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Protobiont

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	Topics Protobiont Topic Home Protobionts are systems that are considered to have possibly been the precursors to prokaryotic cells. A protobiont is an aggregate of abiotically producedAbiogenesis Abiogenesis is, in its most general sense, the generation of life from non-living matter.... organic molecules surrounded by a membrane or a membrane-like structure. Protobionts exhibit some of the properties associated with life, including simple reproduction, metabolism and excitability, as well as the maintenance of an internal chemical environment different from that of their surroundings. It has been suggested that they are a key step in the origin of lifeOrigin of life In the physical sciences, the question of the origin of life is the study of the nature in which life is theorized to have e... on earth. Experiments by Sidney W. FoxSidney W. Fox Sidney W. Fox was a Los Angeles-born biochemist responsible for unique discoveries in the autosynthesis of protocells.... and Aleksandr OparinAleksandr Oparin Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparin was a Soviet biologist and biochemist, who has been acclaimed as one of the greatest authorities ... have demonstrated that they may be formed spontaneously, in conditions similar to the environment thought to exist on an early Earth. These experiments formed liposomeLiposome A liposome is a spherical vesicle with a membrane composed of a phospholipid bilayer used to deliver drugs or genetic materi... s and microspheres, which have membrane structure similar to the phospholipid bilayer found in cellCell (biology) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and is sometimes called the "building block of life.... s. See also ProkaryoteProkaryote Prokaryotes are organisms without a cell nucleus , or indeed any other membrane-bound organelles, in most cases unicellula... s External links