The Origin of Life: How did non-living chemicals transition into self-replicating life on early Earth? This question—abiogenesis—remains unsolved despite progress in prebiotic chemistry. Experiments like Miller-Urey showed amino acids form under simulated early-Earth conditions, but assembling them into functional RNA or proteins in a stable, replicating system is vastly more complex. Competing hypotheses include hydrothermal vent metabolism, RNA world scenarios, or delivery via comets. Key challenges involve explaining homochirality (life’s preference for left-handed amino acids), compartmentalization (cell membranes), and information encoding. Without a second example of life (e.g., from Mars or Europa), Earth’s case may be unique—or common but poorly understood. Solving abiogenesis would bridge chemistry and biology, inform the search for extraterrestrial life, and redefine life’s place in the universe.
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