What term describes life arising from nonliving matter?

• A. Abiogenesis
• B. Biogenesis
• C. Endosymbiosis
• D. Panspermia

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is how life began from nonliving materials. This is described by abiogenesis, the idea that living systems emerged through chemical evolution from simple, nonliving substances on the early Earth. Abiogenesis focuses on the origin of life from nonliving matter, not from other living organisms. In contrast, biogenesis is the principle that life comes from existing life. Endosymbiosis is about how eukaryotic cells may have acquired organelles through intimate symbiosis with other cells, not about the initial origin of life. Panspermia proposes that life started somewhere else in the universe and was brought here, rather than arising on Earth from nonliving matter. So abiogenesis best fits the concept of life arising from nonliving matter.