The chemistry of life’s emergence, the way merely organic, carbon-containing molecules begin linking up into large, self-replicating molecules like DNA and form life, remains a mystery, but scientists ...

A 13-atom molecule containing sulfur has been discovered in interstellar space for the first time, providing insight into the origins of the chemistry of life.

The complex building blocks of life can form spontaneously in space, a new lab experiment shows.

A team of researchers studied the properties of membranes to understand how these cellular structures influenced the chemistry of life on Earth as it began. How life arose remains a looming question ...

A doctoral student recreated a tiny piece of the universe in a bottle to investigate the chemistry that led to life on Earth.

Several studies in recent years have found amino acids, some of the molecules that make up cell membranes, and other key pieces of the chemistry of life floating on grains of interstellar dust. But a ...

Explaining isolated steps on the road from simple chemicals to complex living organisms is not enough. Looking at the big picture could help to bridge rifts in this fractured research field. The ...

Chemical reactions key to the origin of life on Earth could have occurred as molecules moved along thermal gradients within networks of thin rock fractures deep underground. Such networks, which would ...