http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Miller

March 7, 1930 - May 20, 2007 Stanley Lloyd Miller

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Miller and Urey experiment (or Urey–Miller experiment)

Simulated hypothetical conditions thought at the time to be present on the early Earth • tested Alexander Oparin's and J. B. S. Haldane's hypothesis that conditions on the primitive Earth favored chemical reactions that synthesized organic compounds from inorganic precursors • Classic experiment on the origin of life (published in 1953) by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey at the University of Chicago • Passed electrical discharges (simulating thunderstorms) through mixtures of hydrogen, ammonia, methane, and water, believed to have formed the earliest atmosphere. • Analysis showed that organic molecules including glycine and alanine (simple amino acids), urea, aldehydes, and carboxylic acids were produced

• • After Miller's death in 2007, scientists examined the sealed vials preserved from the original experiments & showed there were over 20 different amino acids produced in Miller's original experiments (more than what Miller originally reported, and more than the 20 that naturally occur in life.

Moreover, some evidence suggests that Earth's original atmosphere might have had a different composition than the gas used in the Miller–Urey experiment. There is abundant evidence of major volcanic eruptions 4 billion years ago, which would have released carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) into the atmosphere. • Experiments using these gases in addition to the ones in the original Miller–Urey experiment have produced more diverse molecules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%E2%80%93Urey_experiment