All Origins of life articles
View all stories with this category.
-
ResearchMolecular fossils solve evolutionary mystery
Fossilised protosteroids confirm Nobel-prizewinner’s decades-old prediction
-
ResearchVolcanoes and meteorites may have delivered catalysts for life’s beginning
Iron-rich nanoparticles can catalyse conversion of CO2 to complex organic molecules
-
FeatureThe messy chemistry that led to life
To understand how chemistry became biology, some chemists are eschewing simple reactions to study complex systems with many reactants and products. Rachel Brazil peers through the tangle
-
ResearchMechanochemically accelerated sublimations used to separate chiral molecules
New technique combines ball milling with NMR to monitor sublimations in real time
-
ResearchRNA building block uracil recovered from near-Earth asteroid Ryugu
Japanese mission returns pristine sample to bolster idea that prebiotic chemicals could have been delivered by meteorites
-
ResearchZircon study prompts redox state rethink surrounding hydrothermal pools thought to harbour life’s first molecules
Research combining experiments with modelling suggests hydrothermal fluid was 30% as saline as sea water today and more oxidised than the surrounding mantle
-
OpinionCracking codons
Understanding how chemistry links RNA triplets to the properties of amino acids
-
OpinionFrom prebiotic soup to fine-grained RNA world
Theories about how life emerged need to be closely attuned to conditions on the early Earth
-
OpinionIs there a natural order in which complex objects appear?
Assembly theory suggests there might be
-
ResearchLife’s handedness could have arisen spontaneously on Earth
New insight into the origins of homochirality point to adaptation to energy sources as driver
-
ResearchFreeze–thaw cycles could explain how ancient RNA replicated without enzymes
Discovery solves puzzle of RNA world hypothesis
-
FeatureHow protocells bridge the gap from chemistry to biology
Rachel Brazil talks to the scientists trying to recreate what the first cells were like, or to make their own versions
-
OpinionNed Seeman’s legacy
A system based on DNA ‘tiles’ can embody Darwinian evolution, raising new possibilities for understanding natural selection and materials development
-
ResearchGlassware found to promote reactions in Miller–Urey 'primordial soup' experiment
By running their famous 1952 experiment in glass flasks, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey might have unintentionally simulated the role of rocks on early Earth
-
ResearchUltraphosphates break decades-old anti-branching rule
Discovery of elusive branched phosphates’ unexpected stability means they could have played a role in prebiotic chemistry
-
ResearchAdding constraints to understand life’s chemical origins
Matt Powner wants to know if there are chemical rules that govern why certain synthetic strategies are embedded in biology
-
ResearchLightning may have created essential building blocks for life on Earth
Reduced phosphorus material discovered in geological sample offers insight into life’s origins
-
ResearchMission accomplished for scientist who set out to bring astrobiology to Portugal
Zita Martins discusses her work searching for molecules related to the origin of life
-
ResearchSteroid fossilisation discovery opens new chapter in debate around oldest animal
Are the biomolecules found in 635-million-year-old rocks the earliest evidence of animal life or just plant remnants?
-
ResearchAlgorithm discovers how six simple molecules could evolve into life’s building blocks
Program shows how micelles, catalysts and self-replicating chemical systems emerge from abiotic precursors