Prebiotic chemistry aims to explain how the biochemistry of life as we know it came to be.
Most efforts in this area have focused on provisioning compounds of importance to life by …

The origin of life entails a continuum from simple prebiotic chemistry to cells with genes and
molecular machines. Using life as a guide to this continuum, we consider how selection …

A model for the origin of biochemistry at an alkaline hydrothermal vent has been developed
that focuses on the acetyl-CoA (Wood–Ljungdahl) pathway of CO2 fixation and central …

“One of the deepest, most illuminating books about the history of life to have been published
in recent years.”—The Economist The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and …

Research on the origin of life is highly heterogeneous. After a peculiar historical
development, it still includes strongly opposed views which potentially hinder progress. In …

Building on the model of Russell and Hall for the emergence of life at a warm submarine
hydrothermal vent, we suggest that, within a hydrothermally formed system of contiguous …

Life is the harnessing of chemical energy in such a way that the energy-harnessing device
makes a copy of itself. This paper outlines an energetically feasible path from a particular …

Astrobiology is the science that seeks to understand the story of life in our universe.
Astrobiology includes investigation of the conditions that are necessary for life to emerge …

Integrating both scientific and philosophical perspectives, this book provides an informed
analysis of the challenges of formulating a universal theory of life. Among the issues …

The origin of the genetic code is an abiding mystery in biology. Hints of a 'code within the
codons' suggest biophysical interactions, but these patterns have resisted interpretation …