The Miller-Urey Experiment

In 1953, Stanley Miller, a graduate student, wanted to see if life can be created through artificial circumstances. He conducted the experiment with Harold Urey, and it was called the Miller-Urey experiment.

They recreated an atmosphere close to what Earth was like before life had started, to see if life could be created by using lightning and an acidic solution. By simulating conditions thought to be present on the primitive Earth, Miller and Urey passed electric sparks through a mixture of gasses including methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water vapor. This created organic molecules (amino acids). 

By demonstrating that organic molecules could be formed under simulated early Earth conditions, the experiment provided important insights into how life may have originated billions of years ago. 

And illuminating potential pathways for life's origins, the Miller-Urey experiment has spurred ongoing research into prebiotic chemistry and has influenced diverse fields such as molecular biology and astrobiology. It also brings up the question of if there were other ways life on Earth was started, and if other organic molecules besides amino acids are able to be created through artificial means. 

Scientists have also considered the idea of meteors bringing the first organic molecules to Earth. Though as many theories continue to be made about how exactly life on Earth started, we may never know what the exact circumstances were in which life was brought into Earth.