Ever wondered or thought of figuring out the answer of the world famous unsolved riddle Which came first, chicken or the egg? If taken a literal interpretation of the Bible, it would put the chicken before the egg. To quote Genesis: And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the water in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. There is no creation, so neither the egg nor the chicken came first.
But, astoundingly, scientists like James Watson and Francis Crick worked out the first ever 3D structure of the DNA. The structure was a double helix with two long chains of four basic chemicals which acted as the basic alphabets for the language of life. This structure and its stability permitted information storage for all of life’s needs. Each of this chain specified the content of its partner. This arrangement suggested a mechanism for reproduction. The two strands of the DNA double helix parted company. As they did so, new DNA building blocks, called nucleotides. Two double helices now existed in place of one, each a replica of the original.
This double helix structure initiated an avalanche of discoveries about how living cells function and reproduce. They also triggered speculations about lifes origins. There are various definitions of life because it is one of the least understood subjects. The simplest and accurate definition would be Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing evolution.
Genes are a sequence of DNA, Richard Dawkins elaborated on this in his book The Selfish Gene: At some point a remarkable molecule was formed by accident. We will call it the Replicator. It may not have been the biggest or most complex but it could make copies of itself, which is uncommon for a molecule. DNA fits as a perfect candidate for this molecule. But there were a lot of complications, as DNA replication cannot proceed without the help of a number of proteins, proteins are members of a family of large molecules that are chemically different from DNA. just like DNA proteins are constructed by linking smaller units called amino acids, together it forms a long chain. Cells use twenty such different blocks in combination to do a variety of tasks. Enzymes a subclass of proteins act in speeding up chemical processes that would otherwise take place too slowly for life to exist. DNA holds the recipe for proteins. Yet that information cannot be retrieved or copied without the help of some proteins in the first place.
So which molecules appeared first? Is it the proteins (the chicken) or DNA (the egg)? A possible solution appeared when we introduced RNA. this class of molecule is like DNA, assembled by the same building blocks played a versatile role inside a cell. Certain RNA carries information from the DNA to construct proteins. RNA takes many forms during the process it can also form a double helix that resembles the DNA. In 2006 the Nobel prizes in both chemistry and medicine were awarded for discoveries concerning the role of RNA in editing and censoring DNA instructions.
A simple solution for the chicken-and-egg riddle fell into place. Life began with the appearance of the first RNA molecule. Nobel Laureate Walter Gilbert of Harvard University quoted “One can mull over an RNA world, containing only RNA molecules that serve to catalyze the synthesis of themselves. And The first step of evolution proceeds then by RNA molecules performing the catalytic activities necessary to assemble themselves from a nucleotide soup.” In this vision, the first self-replicating RNA that emerged from non-living matter carried out the functions now executed by RNA, DNA and proteins. Various other clues also supported the idea that RNA appeared much before proteins and DNA in the evolution of life.
So to conclude it was RNA all this time, and where did RNA come into existence? Was it really randomness that led to the formation of the first RNA molecule? Or are we descendants of a really old alien species whose RNA somehow travelled through the depths of space, preserved in time, took a piggyback ride to earth millions of years ago on a frozen comet?
Keep thinking! Maybe you, our next scientist in the origin-of-life field can crack it.
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Comments
Abilash. p
May 11, 2018
Answer is egg because.A seed unknowingly evolved into egg
Colton Sidwell
May 16, 2018
Your site is so fantastic. I’m going to come back here again.
Rishika
May 17, 2018
I guess chicken is the first
James Treder
May 17, 2018
This site is absolutely fabulous!
Elvie Klingner
May 18, 2018
Keep up the great work guyz.
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May 18, 2018
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Joy
May 18, 2018
???????………. Life began with RNA
Gayatri
May 18, 2018
Good topic to think about….. Thank you Byju’s for this information!!
Harshit
May 18, 2018
How?
Supriya Jadhav
May 19, 2018
I always tried to figure this out and my answer was very much closer it yet it was great to read it in a much more scientific explanation.??
DEVESEREK
May 21, 2018
Of course,egg is the first because if you ask anyone the plant is first or the seed is first they’ll tell
the seed is first
Anjana
May 23, 2018
I think it’s egg.
Aftab
May 23, 2018
egg come first as lizards and other animal ‘s egg may come first than chicken or chicken egg
😉
Manya
May 23, 2018
Very nice article, it let in the swimming pool of curiosity to think n learn more! Thank u ?
Shubham
May 24, 2018
I guess egg came first
Stefflin
May 24, 2018
No, the answer is not an EGG. It is the CHICKEN.
Tejas r gowda
May 24, 2018
Chicken is first because all the nutrition which is necessity for the
Egg development are from chicken
Priyanka
May 25, 2018
I think it is chicken
Vaibhav
May 25, 2018
First of all,
We gets millions or billions or trillions of cells,
Then we get a piece of tissue (The egg shell),
The the evolution of chick came into existence,
A new born baby came out of the shell,
NOTE:- 1. The birds like chicken,crow,sparrow etc.
Are from the age of dinosaura.
NOTE:- 2. The evolution of chick happen because of,
Micro Organizim (GOOD BACTERIA)
Aditya Raj
May 25, 2018
The web site is so nice
Siddharth
May 25, 2018
Two birds that weren’t really chickens created a chicken egg, and that egg hatched a chicken. So technically egg came first.
Teena
May 25, 2018
In my opinion Chicken came first.
Utkarsh Verma
May 25, 2018
I think chicken came first because an egg will not hatch without the heat provided by the chicken.
Rohith
May 26, 2018
Chicken the first
Kinshuk
May 28, 2018
The egg came first……… A theory is that just like humans have evolved from apesand as evolution is a slow process and there are slight changes in every generation, even there is a genetic difference in me and my father, and eventually chicken have evolved from other beings…ummmm….. Lets call them protochicken………..the story is, a protochicken mates with another protochicken and lays an egg from that the genes change slightly and the first chicken is born in existence another protochicken lays an egg and another gender chicken comes to existence, and the generation continues………so, the egg came first.
Kinshuk
May 28, 2018
The egg came first….. A theory suggests that there is a slight difference of genes in every generation, even there is a slight genetic difference in me and my father……… So there was a species before the chicken, let’s call them protochicken……. A protochicken mates and lays an egg and there comes ot a chicken another chicken is born and the generation continues with a new species called chicken.
Suryaansh
May 28, 2018
Chicken is first because I think chicken evolved from microbes or from soul and then laid eggs
Saswat
June 5, 2018
It’s a very good topic to discuss,though. Thanks Byjus
Vanshika
June 12, 2018
I think the answer is chicken
Anthony
June 14, 2018
Howdy! I just would like to give you a huge thumbs up for your excellent info you’ve got here
on this post. I am coming back to your blog for more soon.
Jessica kashyap
June 14, 2018
The chicken came first.
According to some scientist A very similar creature like chicken ,suppose, a proto chicken met with another proto chicken.
And because of some mutation in the zygote a chicken is formed. From a proto-chicken egg
Yashvardhan
June 14, 2018
It’s a EGG ,
And a riddle
Aisha Reyaz
June 14, 2018
Ya egg very nice site….
Tanmay
June 14, 2018
I am bit confused
Tanmay
June 14, 2018
Egg or chicken? I am bit confused
Mehul Dugar
June 15, 2018
Yes the answer is egg
Mehul Dugar
June 15, 2018
Answer is egg
Mehul Dugar
June 15, 2018
Egg
Suvan mishra
June 15, 2018
I think chicken. Hi
Harshini
June 15, 2018
I guess chicken is the first
Sornalatha
June 15, 2018
The answer is actually chicken. There were pre-chickens existing
Before chickens. They were like primitive chickens.so due to
Evolution chickens came to the earth.
Rohini S Das
June 16, 2018
I think it is the chicken which came first because due to evolution micro organisms may have given rise to an organism say the chicken….??
Shriya
June 16, 2018
I like your site and I also think that egg come first
Debjani
June 16, 2018
The chicken comes first. Because scientists have found that the element which is needed to form an egg is present in the chicken. That proves that chicken cames first
Manvi
June 16, 2018
Ofcourse egg…everything in this world comes with a small version….nothing comes directly as an adult version…right??
Manvi
June 16, 2018
I think egg…everything in this world, comes with an baby version….nothing comes directly as an adult …right??
Avani
June 17, 2018
My answer is god
Jawin
June 17, 2018
Which came first ?
The chicken
Anushka
June 17, 2018
Egg is the answer because if the egg was not there so hen also would not be there
Neeraj
June 19, 2018
No it is wrong,not a chicken not an egg. It is an evolution of any animal of the past
Radhika jaswal
June 21, 2018
I think the egg is first as it is a cell , The cell basic functional and structural unit of life has been first, that’s why I think egg is first
Mansi
June 23, 2018
Egg can’t be an answer because the contents which are in the shell of the egg, is only found in the hen.
But chick can not exist without the egg….
So its still a riddle …..
Hitesh sial
June 23, 2018
Answer:chicken
Mayur
June 23, 2018
Man is first
Mayur
June 23, 2018
Human beings are first
Falak
June 24, 2018
Egg is the right answer.
Falak
June 24, 2018
Maybe EGG came first
Falak
June 24, 2018
Egg
Sarah Zain
June 24, 2018
Thankyou byjus for making me think on this question.
I guess it’s a chicken
Akshith
June 24, 2018
Hen first,
Dharmendra
June 24, 2018
Chicken came first because mother comes before child
Kashif
June 24, 2018
The chicken is first.
Ruby
June 26, 2018
It’s chicken bcz without sex and fertization an egg can’t get formed
chouqin
June 27, 2018
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chouqin
June 27, 2018
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chouqin
June 29, 2018
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Nandeesh
June 29, 2018
Manav you are right if the egg is not heated how would the chicken hatch?
Apurv Sinha
June 29, 2018
I think egg came first as egg is unicellular and a chicken is multicellular and we know that every living thing starts of as a single cell.
Manshi
July 2, 2018
Very interesting!
Love reading with byjus app.
KAIF
July 16, 2018
HEN was came first because the membrane of egg need a kind of special material which only produce by HEN
Khushi from Pune
July 23, 2018
I think an egg as the egg will evolve into a chicken….
Nandini L
July 28, 2018
Your Message *egg came first
Sri varshini
July 29, 2018
I think so the answer is egg.
Ayesha
August 12, 2018
I’m really enlightened by the facts provided by the Byju’s.
PRATIKA PATEL
August 31, 2018
I think so that without egg chicken can’t be hatch so egg came frist
PRATIKA PATEL
August 31, 2018
I think so that egg came first
Shrika
September 6, 2018
I think the answer is chicken because there must be an unknown species that evolved into an chicken of course not in a egg…….??????
Divya
September 22, 2018
Vola !!! Where does an egg come from a HEN where does a hen come from an EGG !! Basically both came first out of nowhere ! Ha here you go James Watson and Francis Crick
Aditya Talawar
November 11, 2018
Answer is:- by breeding of two another type of animals. They lay egg in which chicken was entered in world
Nishu Chauhan Aerocity Escort
November 16, 2018
Definitely Egg Come First….
Pragati
December 14, 2018
The answer is egg because it could be dinosaurs egg too. ?
Hriman Mittal
March 3, 2019
The egg came first because some dinosaurs
also laid eggs.
G N S Rishitha
March 26, 2019
Thanks u sooooooooooooooooo much Byjus
Vyomakesh
July 7, 2020
It’s nice I like it
Advita Goyal
July 7, 2020
Well….. If we think about it I feel like being a cycle it has no end and as for my answer- A circle has no beginning.
Harshita singh
July 8, 2020
There is no creation, so neither the egg nor the chicken came first.
Sneha
July 8, 2020
The answer is chicken because God created chicken not egg…
Shreya Shukla
July 8, 2020
Completely Blanked out?
Aditya
July 9, 2020
Chicken came first.when molecules join it’s not
Possible for egg to come first.
Sunandana Kar
March 22, 2021
Chichen egg theory????
Sunandana Kar
March 22, 2021
Chicken-Egg Theory???