Starting with the obvious, everything that exists on planet Earth is made out of the elements portrayed in the periodic table.
An atom of an element consists of an extremely dense nucleus made of positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons, with negatively charged clouds – the electrons – orbiting the nucleus. The number of neutrons (isotopes) and the number of electrons (ions) can vary within the same element, therefore, what defines an element is the number of protons in its core (1 proton hydrogen, 2 protons helium, and so forth).
Since the stars in the universe were ignited not earlier than 13.650.000.000 years ago, a reaction that occurs at their core called nuclear fusion has been “burning” hydrogen and helium, generating enormous amounts of energy and producing – as byproducts – atoms of different elements of the periodic table – up to iron (26) at the star core, up to Lead(82) at the star shell layers, and up to plutonium(94) in phenomena that can quickly generate a massive influx of neutrons (like a supernova).
Due to its position in the solar system, Planet Earth is made out of atoms from hydrogen(1) to plutonium(94), whose quantities and distribution within planetary layers were determined by its genesis processes.
At the physical conditions found on planet Earth, almost all atoms tend to bond with other atoms, and they do so through the lasting attraction between their electrons – originating molecules.
The molecules appear in all shapes, designs, and sizes – they can contain just two atoms of the same element (O2 oxygen gas, H2 hydrogen gas) as well as millions of atoms of different elements (RNA, DNA molecules).
Within all the elements that Earth is (and was) made of, one stands out as an excellent building block of molecules – carbon. Because of its intrinsic properties (number and configuration of its electrons), carbon atoms can attach with many different elements through a wide variety of bonds and shapes, enabling enormous molecules to take place (by definition, every molecule with a carbon bond is an organic molecule – for historical reasons some carbon compounds are considered inorganic).
Under some very specific circumstances atoms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen (elements that were and still are abundant on Earth) can fuse together (with smaller quantities of elements like phosphorus, sulfur, and iron) generating complex organic molecules.
According to their composition, shape, and design, these complex organic molecules are classified as amino acids (building blocks of proteins and enzymes), lipids (building blocks of membranes), nucleotides (building blocks of genes – RNA and DNA molecules), and carbohydrates (also building blocks of genes and enzymes).
In order to forge these complex organic molecules, a special reaction must occur.
In a parallel, the same way that nuclear fusion in the stars needs certain environmental conditions to generate the energy loop that fabricates (as byproducts) the elements of the periodic table, the special reaction also needs certain (microscopic) environmental conditions to generate a (tiny) energy bolt loop that fabricates (as byproducts) the complex organic molecules.
This (tiny) energy loop requires a (microscopic) container with its internal walls electromagnetically charged (electrons of their atoms avid to bond), together with some fluid inside that provides atoms (the fuel) to react with the internal wall. Under these environmental conditions, a microscopic (atomic level) bolt of lightning is generated along the internal wall that reignites itself through a chain of chemical reactions that, in turn, fabricates (as byproducts) complex organic molecules (such as RNA, DNA).
This special reaction, this tiny lightning bolt loop fabricating complex organic molecules, is called metabolism.
This is an excerpt from my publication Beliefs of a Female Architect. If you enjoy science writing completely grounded in empirical evidence, it might be something for you.
All sources that shaped this article are available at the publication Beliefs of a Female Architect.