Robert Hooke
A. Oparin, Russian chemist
At the outset, I am proud to pay homage the stalwart A. Oparin(Fore runner in the discovery of life ) and RobertHooke(Discoverer of life cell).
Life emerged from inanimate substances. The earth was formed about 4.56 billion years back. The life evolved about 3.80 billion years BCE on the earth. So after formation of the earth the substances forming it took about 800 million years to undergo changes towards completion of the chemical evolution and the biological evolution to bring matters to formulate life, i.e. the formation of a cell, the primary unit of a body. These changes included the processes of causing reactions yielding compounds from simple to complex and developing forms of bodies from unicellular to multi-cellular . The chemical evolution to the formations of amino acid, nucleic acid, RNA, DNA, were the major developments in the processes of formation of life-cell , proving that the first life is a product of material changes occurring in nature. These are complex products taking hundreds of years to reach up to the stage of formations of the products making the creation of life possible.
The basic idea is that every thing can be explained in terms of one thing—“ matter’’. Matter comprises of all the features that are exposed to us like space, nature, man, psychic feeling, consciousness, human intelligence and every other aspects of existence and all that we perceive as realities. According to Friedrich Engels, “ The old teleology has gone to the devil, but now we have the knowledge that matter in its perpetual circulation, move according to laws that at certain stages—now here, now there—necessarily produce the thinking mind in organic existence’. In reality the tasks of knowing and exploring all truths are assigned and ascribed to science. If science can get to inform every thing about matter, then it can get to provide information about every thing, though it may be a time taking process. Conclusively matter is accepted as the beginning and the ending of all realities. What is the origin of energy or motion in matter ? What causes the creation of galaxies , solar system, stars, planets , animals and all kingdoms of life, the origin of species and the origin of consciousness and mind? Answer to all these queries comes into being through the passage of time. Contextually, I like to make a reference to the philosophy of ancient India, Upanishad by name, where the ideology about `soul’ coincides with the emergence of energy, an abstract form of matter, though it is said to have existed beyond nature. The advancement of knowledge is still bounded by limitation, but its flow of development can not stop to any limit. The process of development has well been established by Karl Marx in his famous three principles, law of two opposites, law of transformation, law of negation.
The appearance of the first cell :–
It has, by now, been established that that `life’ first emerged at about 3.8 billion years ago, that is, about 800 million years after the earth had been formed. Let me describe here, in a nut shell , how this could occur as a reality.
It was first proposed in 1920s that under the conditions considered to have existed in the early earth, the simple organic molecules could form and spontaneously polymerize into macro molecules as a property of these molecules. Following the earlier proposal put forward by Alexander Oparin, Russian biologist and J.B.S. Haldane, an English scientist, Stanley Miller, then an American student of graduate degree class, later on becoming an eminent chemist and Harold Urey, a professor of Chicago university, performed an experiment and produced amino acid in 1950s , thereby proving true what Oparin and Haldane foretold.
It is usual to think that the elements freely existing in nature side by side happened to combine with each other when the courses of changes invited a favorable situation to undergo chemical reaction. It was a reality that hydrogen and oxygen formed water, carbon and oxygen formed carbon dioxide, etc, These were simple reactions which did definitely occur in nature in a certain period long long ago . In a further development, the carbon dioxide got to come in contact with water vapour and formed a complex compound called carbonic acid. Thus the product proceeded to move to undertake forms from simple to complex. Still more complex was the compound called amino acid as mentioned above. In this way the elements in nature depending on their own properties and on the environmental situation having caused to appear in nature, the usual courses of changes formed, at a point, a characteristic compound called amino acid which had in itself two ingredients of opposite nature, acid group and an alkali group, maintaining unity . The formation of amino acid was a great development in the course of changes in nature, as it was instrumental to the formation of proteins , a precursor to formation of life. Another great natural course of development was the formation of nucleic acid in nature, namely, RNA( Ribonucleic acid) and DNA ( Deoxyribonucleic acid) by the process of polymerization.( more details in my book `Life Welcome’). According to J B S Haldane in his `Origin of Life’, at the central region of the earth, after its formation, in severe hotness, the metals got combined with carbon forming carbides. When these melted materials had rhe occasions to move out of that region the carbides came to undergo reaction with water vapour and formed the type of simple compounds called hydrocarbons. The types of hydrocarbons were acetylene, methane etc. The elements of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, etc were the those which came to exist during the early period of formation of elements as their atomic number was small, ie, arrangement of protons , neutrons, electrons was somewhat easy to begin with. So the reactions among hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon were of the primary type. I have already mentioned the formation of hydrocarbons. Like wise, reaction of hydrogen with oxygen, with nitrogen, was also of the possible occasions at that period. Thus were formed water, ammonia, carbon dioxide etc. The reactions were considered to be first hand reactions to form simple compounds. In the second stage , hydrocarbon underwent reaction with water to form complex product the types of aldehydes. In the third phase this aldehdes underwent reaction with ammonia to yield amides or amines. In this way, the elements in the favorable environment, more and more elements and compounds went on yielding complex, more complex and still more complex products began to be formed in the possible conditions that reactions require. Another important phenomenon to produce complex nature of compounds with many more atoms in the formation is the process of polymerization. To illustrate, let us take a very simple example of an acetylene molecule( a compound made of two carbon atoms and two hydrogen atoms). If such three molecules ( C2H2) can be compressed together to form one molecule, it will yield Benzene(C6H6 ). This phenomenon is known as polymerization. Thus formation of complex products can be had by accumulation of more atoms of the concerning elements under suitable condition, such as oxygen developed as ozone, or by chemical reactions like aldehydes combing with ammonia forming amines , or by polymerization as shown here.
What was the phenomenon behind the occurrence of this event of formation of life? When two molecules of amino acids come close and happen to combine, a molecule of water gets omitted , leaving residues to form a peptide. If many molecules of amino acids join by removal of water molecules between each two amino acid molecules, the peptide formed is called poly peptide. A poly peptide with a long chain of residues ( 50 to 2000 links) is called a protein. This provides a demonstration to apprise the formation of a complex molecules from simple ones in natural course depending on the properties of matter. Again the trend proceeds this way to produce complex to more complex molecule . Such are the affairs in the case of formation of RNA and DNA from nucleotides. The molecules RNA, DNA and proteins consisting of long chains of similar respective structures are at the base on which life has come into being.( details in my book ‘Life Welcome`).
The peculiarity in RNA was that it was the first molecule in nature which acquired the capacity of self-replication and of production of the molecules of its own type. This type of qualitative creation did not appear in nature before hands. That extraordinary quality was acquired and possessed by RNA as the first of its kind. Thus proteins from amino acid, RNA and DNA as nucleic acids appeared in nature in course of time at about 380 crores of years BCE and at about 80 crores of years after formation of the earth , as the precursor to life.
The self-replicating RNA being thus formed got materially enclosed in a membrane composed of phospholipids and turned into the first life cell, the unique and the first of its kind.
We are proud of having the privilege of enjoying life, the extra-ordinary phenomenon for the whole of the universe. It was so complex a molecule, life by name, that it could not be created artificially as yet. In my personal opinion, it would not naturally be created any further, as the nature had crossed that moment and environment making it possible for so many ingredient elements in nature to come together in a favourable and congenial atmosphere. Now it would be we, the people of the earth planet in the whole universe, who would have to carry the essence of life to other heavenly bodies before the earth abolishes.
We may now observe how the three principles , unity and struggle of two opposites, transformation, and negation of negation have taken place during millions of years along the path of evolution. The plant or animal of any form has evolved during the courses of changes from lower to higher stage of development. All these questions are imbibed in three principles enunciated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , primarily being initiated by Hegel. Even long before their period, Lord Buddha initiated the idea of “ thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis’’. Thus the fact that the intrinsic strength of science has continued to be unfolding nature and making our brain capable of receiving the phenomenon is a fundamental truth. When a compound proceeds to undertake the form of a complex salt from simple structure, it means more number of atoms have joined the structure. It becomes possible if the required number of electrons fall short to attain the form of octet. That denotes the presence of contradiction. After amino acid residues get linked in large number, protein is formed. This demonstrates the change from quantity to quality. This is nothing but dialectical materialism.
Marxism here holds good. The changes referred above illustrate that a particular class of creature has always been in the struggle against its disadvantages and inconveniences, generation after generation . This struggle resulted in the reshaping of its body and organs to better suit the existing situation and effectively respond to the environment as is subjected to. To make the living status better and easier the animals have been in constant struggle, even in these most advanced days of ours with so much richness of the civilization, where man is striving incessantly to evolve still better life and is involved in the struggle against the exploiting classes and also against the obstacles erected by the environment, in his way to move from known to unknown. This will go on and discoveries will pour into man’s knowledge.
We may now observe how the three principles , unity and struggle of two opposites, transformation and negation of negation have taken place during millions of years along the path of evolution. The plant or animal of any form has evolved from lower to higher stage of development. This is a fundamental truth.
Likewise the aquatic animals underwent courses of changes to negate water and avoid inconveniences so that a life with much more comfort and easiness could be attained. The tendency towards that stage of development inspired the creatures to constantly try to take recourse to modification of the body structure . This attempt, generation after generation, had acted upon the structure and gradually gone to reshape the body to suit convenience. If we examine the number of chambers in the heart , we would realize how the number of chambers in the heart vary from fish to mammals in order to segregate pure and impure blood. In fish there are two chambers in it. The hearts of amphibians and reptiles are three-chambered and these appear to be overlapped. In birds and mammals the hearts are four-chambered to completely separate the oxygenated and de-oxygenated bloods. It is so in the case of development of brain from fish to mammal, The fact in evolution will be illustrated separately.
The Tetrapod Missing Link – Tiktaalik
Tiktaalik (Alain Beneteau).
The 375-million-year-old Tiktaalik is what some paleontologists call a “fishapod,” a transitional form perched midway between the prehistoric fish that preceded it and the first true tetrapods of the late Devonian period. Tiktaalik spent most, if not all, of its life in the water, but it boasted a wrist-like structure under its front fins, a flexible neck and primitive lungs, which may have allowed it to climb occasionally onto semi-dry land. Essentially, Tiktaalik blazed the prehistoric trail for its better-known tetrapod descendant of 10 million years later, Acanthostega.
Simof 11
fig-3
In the above figure we can see that the fins in the frontal portion are used to give pressure on water or muddy soil. These fins are not bony in the animal. But their constant use in pressing water to move forward generate strength in the animal and act in steeling its muscle. In exercising these fins again and again, and generation after generation, the muscles get modified and turns into bone. Then the fins become limb suitable for moving on the shore. That means , the amphibian animal evolved into reptiles enabling the animal to roam easily across the shore and live there at without trouble.
We have some creatures before us ,which bear traces to reveal the fact that the vertebrate animals have an evolutionary history from aquatic to terrestrial animals with man at the top of the chain. The bird like animal `Bat’ and fish like aquatic `Whale’ are two instances placed in class mammal though they have diverge character. The whales living in water and bearing the symptoms of mammal stand a testimony to demonstrate the fact that the vertebrates are evolved from aquatic lower animals and then evolved into the class mammal. The bat , whale, dolphins, hippopotamus, etc stand as incomplete evolution. Owing to some reasons the evolution could not maintain the normal course of evolution, because of environmental genetic disturbances, in whatever manner it might have occurred, and the evolution got abandoned in the middle. The bat stands a testimony to illustrate that the mammals were evolved from the class representing birds. This is also an example of anomaly in the chain of evolution conserving the characteristics of birds , at the same time qualifying some traits of mammals, abandoning evolutionary process in the middle.
The aspects that have had the plot behind these changes may be summarized as follows :
- An urge to get rid of water, that is, move against water.
- Elimination of organs that suit water but does not suit soil. ( tail, breathing organ suitable for water, shape of foot and palm, etc.)
- Reshaping head and brain
- Increase of heart chamber number,
- Limbs instead of fins.
- Dragging along soil instead of sailing over water
- Change in variety of food.
In every item of the above, the reptiles had to employ labour to overcome stalemate at different points and to make road to a newer off shoot . This is a Marxian angle of view to categorize `decaying trend’ and `developing trend’ and treat that way. This is dialect.
Adaptation to environment :
In a particular phylum, the animal makes some outgrowth or takes resort to modification in itself in adjustment with the environment. Though this is adaptation to environment, it tentamounts to a type of changes that may be equated as primary evolutionary changes. The plants with weak stems can not stand erect. In order to take support and to grow about a strong tree, tendrils grow in the former one. The banyan tree grows support roots from its stem in order to balance its weight. The aquatic plants have organs to support its floating. Different aquatic animals have taken recourse to different kinds of breathing organism to take in oxygen. The function of tails of fish differs from that of amphibians and the terrestrial animals. In water the fish does not need tails to chase mosquitoes as found in terrestrial ones. Let us behold the formation of necks in cocks or other birds. They can rotate it to chase flies and insects to accomplish the function of hands as in man or tails in other terrestrials. The roots of desert trees grow straight downwards very deep to reach water . In cactus the leaves turn into thorns to resist evaporation of water content from its body as it locates in dry land. The bones in birds are soft and hollow to make viable to fly in air. All these specialties are oriented as the guards against inconveniences.
Why did the apes desired to try to make two legs free? The evolution of man from apes by changing four legged animals to evolve into two legged ones is a unique of its kinds, making two limbs free for other activities. The moot point behind all these changes, running from quantitative to qualitative , is the dialectical process of development embedded in matter and in nature. The people, educated or not, need to be apprised of the process through simple examples in their neighbourhood so that the world as well as the nature be a focus of material entity , always in the state of mode of change, becomes clear and understandable to them. A man may be illiterate, but not short of intelligence in his level of knowledge. We should keep them abreast of the motion of nature and then they would be responsive of the dialectical process in their own way of understanding.
