abiogenesis
/ˌeɪbʌɪə(ʊ)ˈdʒɛnɪsɪs
/noun [mass noun]
1The original evolution of life or living organisms from inorganic or inanimate substances: to construct any convincing theory of abiogenesis, we must take into account the condition of the Earth about 4 billion years ago...
- Evolutionary theory does not deal with how life originally came into existence, a process called abiogenesis.
- Many of the constraints on the mode, environment and timing of abiogenesis are derived from laboratory simulations or from theoretical extrapolations to early terrestrial conditions.
- "This evolutionary timescale limits our ability to make strong inferences about how probable abiogenesis is."
1.1 historical another term for spontaneous generation.I read about abiogenesis, the belief that animals and insects can be spontaneously generated from dew, piles of old clothes, the slime in wells, and mud....
- There was a widespread persistence of the old belief that living creatures could arise from appropriate non-living matter. This was the theory of present-day spontaneous generation (abiogenesis)—a false view that has died hard.
- The catchphrase of the day was ‘abiogenesis’ or ‘spontaneous generation’, to describe the belief that living organisms could develop from non-living matter.
Derivatives
abiogenic
- Carbon occurs in marine sediments as organic carbon linked with metabolic processes of plants and animals, and as carbon contained within biogenic and abiogenic carbonate minerals.
- They suggested that these microfossils may be artefacts created by abiogenic processes.
- Discussions regarding the origin of these orange metal-rich sinters assumed that they are abiogenic partly because the environment has been presumed sterile.
Origin
Late 19th century: from a-1 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis.