Viviane Callier in Knowable Magazine:
Four billion years ago, our planet was water and barren rock. Out of this, some mighty complicated chemistry bubbled up, perhaps in a pond or a deep ocean vent. Eventually, that chemistry got wrapped in membranes, a primitive cell developed and life emerged from the ooze.
But how? Among the many mysteries is a chicken-and-egg problem to solve. The proteins called enzymes that get chemical reactions going inside cells are created from instructions carried in genetic material: DNA or RNA. But at the start, those molecules weren’t around: To make them, you need enzymes.
So what got things going?
More here.
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