How might spontaneous generation be possible in a reducing environment? Question options: The reducing environment was created by the abundance of methane, which contains carbon. Because all life is organic, and organic molecules are all carbon-based, these molecules were the source of the spontaneous generation of life. Without oxygen, biological molecules, such as amino acids do not easily break down. As a result, they could have formed a "soup" of organic molecules in the oceans of the past, allowing spontaneous generation to occur. The concentration of nitrogen in the atmosphere created this reducing environment. Because nitrogen is present in amino acids, nucleic acids, and lipids, this environment favored conditions that eventually formed life through spontaneous generation. With high concentrations of carbon dioxide, biological molecules could have performed photosynthesis and pumped oxygen into the air in sufficient amounts over about 2 billion years, making spontaneous generation possible.
