GEOLOGISTS have identified “fossils” from the time when non-living matter was taking its first tentative steps towards life. The ancient grains of radioactive rock are coated with an oily gloop, suggesting they could perhaps have driven the first chemical reactions that were necessary for life to evolve.
Before life got started, complex organic molecules must already have existed on Earth. Simple organic molecules such as amino acids showered down on early Earth, and the atmosphere at the time was rich in methane. But how these chemicals took the next step on the ladder of complexity still mystifies biologists.
“The basic problem with the origin of life…
