Understanding the emergence of complex biochemical systems, such as protein translation,
is a great challenge. Although synthetic approaches can provide insight into the potential …

Most attempts to define life have concentrated on individual theories, mentioning others
hardly at all, but here we compare all of the major current theories. We begin by asking how …

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 …

Motivated by the need to paint a more general picture of what life is—and could be—with
respect to the rest of the phenomena of the universe, we propose a new vocabulary for …

A variety of organic chemicals were likely available on prebiotic Earth. These derived from
diverse processes including atmospheric and geochemical synthesis and extraterrestrial …

Prebiotic chemists often study how modern biopolymers, eg, peptides and nucleic acids,
could have originated in the primitive environment, though most contemporary biomonomers …

Life on Earth and the genetic code evolved around tRNA and the tRNA anticodon. We posit
that the genetic code initially evolved to synthesize polyglycine as a cross-linking agent to …

Darwinian evolution is a nineteenth century descriptive concept that itself has evolved.
Selection by survival of the fittest was a captivating idea. Microevolution was biologically and …

The pursuit of understanding the origins of life (OoL) on and off Earth and the search for
extraterrestrial life (ET) are central aspects of astrobiology. Despite the considerable efforts …

The question of why an individual would actively kill itself has long been an evolutionary
mystery. Pierre M. Durand's ambitious book answers this question through close inspection …