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Some Like It Hot, But Not the First Biomolecules

2002; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 296; Issue: 5575 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1069487

1095-9203

Jeffrey L. Bada, Antonio Lazcano,

Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution

Ever since the pioneering work of Aleksandr Oparin and John Haldane nearly a century ago, the prebiotic soup theory has dominated thinking about how life emerged on Earth. According to the modern version of this theory, organic compounds accumulated in the primordial oceans and underwent polymerization, producing increasingly complex macromolecules that eventually evolved the ability to catalyze their own replication (see the figure). But is this really how life originated? And what were the conditions that favored its emergence?