Bioliogy question about urey-miller experiment?

Question

The experiment ws repeated, sterilizing the whole mixture at 130 degrees celcius for 18 hrs before beginning the electrical discharge.what reason is there for this modification?

Answer 1

The first reason that comes to mind would be to make sure that no microbes were present that might create the compounds.  He was trying to see if some of the chemicals needed for life could be produced by electricity in what they assumed was the primitive atmosphere on Earth before life evolved.