Origin of Life

Is a Bigger Genetic Code Better? Get Ready to Find Out

Evolution settled on a genetic code that uses four letters to name 20 amino acids. Synthetic biologists adding new bases to DNA will be free to improve on nature — if they can.

Quanta Magazine

Life May Have Originated on Earth 4 Billion Years Ago, Study of Controversial Fossils Suggests

Fossils from Western Australia’s 3.5-billion-year-old Apex Chert suggest complex microbial communities existed even way back then.

Science

What If Life On Earth Didn’t Start On Earth?

Oumuamua marks the first time humans have seen a visitor pass through our corner of the universe — renewing discussions of the origins of life, says astrophysicist Adam Frank.

13.7: Cosmos & Culture, NPR

How Did Life Begin? Scientists Propose New Theory for Where Earth’s First Organisms Came From

Our best guess about the circumstances under which life began has been that ribonucleic acid (RNA), part of our genetic material, came first and proteins came later. Though widely agreed upon by scientists, that theory has problems. Now, two scientists have a potential solution: the peptide-RNA hypothesis.

Newsweek

Why Trees Don’t Ungrow

The cliché that life transcends the laws of thermodynamics is completely wrong. The truth is almost exactly the opposite.

Aeon

Earth Had Life From Its Infancy

Canadian rocks that are almost 4 billion years old contain signs that organisms were already around on the young planet.

The Atlantic

A New Finding Raises an Old Question: Where and When Did Life Begin?

Geologists are analyzing ancient clues to tell our origin story.

Popular Science

First Support for a Physics Theory of Life

Take chemistry, add energy, get life. The first tests of Jeremy England’s provocative origin-of-life hypothesis are in, and they appear to show how order can arise from nothing.

Quanta Magazine

Giant Viruses Found in Austrian Sewage Fuel Debate Over Potential Fourth Domain of Life

The lifelike genomes of these viruses offered a chance to test whether they descended from a fourth domain of cellular life — or from other viruses.

Science

Curiosity Has Found The Element Boron On Mars. That’s More Important Than You Might Think

For years, noted chemist and synthetic life researcher Steven Benner has talked about the necessary role of the element boron in the origin of life.

Many Worlds

Meta Musings on the Origins of Life

Last August, three dozen scientists and scholars from around the world gathered at ELSI in Tokyo, Japan for a workshop themed, “The History and Philosophy of Origin Research.” For three days, the attendees explored how historical baggage and old conceptual frameworks may influence current efforts to integrate the community.

Astrobiology Magazine