Census of protein architectures offers new view of history of life
The present can tell you a lot about the past, but you need to know where to look.

How Life Originated In Space
Life originated on the Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago.

At that star, turn left!
Our bodies contain proteins that are made of smaller molecules that can be either left- or right-handed, depending upon their structure.

Modelling evolution on design-by-contract predicts an origin of Life through an abiotic double-stranded RNA world
An alternative scenario is presented in which life started with the appearance of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as an informational storage molecule...

The cosmological model of eternal inflation and the transition from chance to biological evolution in the history of life
Origin of life is a chicken and egg problem: for biological evolution that is governed, primarily, by natural selection, to take off, efficient systems for replication and translation are required...

Are comets at the origin of life on earth ?
For over 60 years now, the University of Liege Astrophysics and Geophysics Institute (IAGL) has been concerned with the study of comets.

Born under the sun: UV light and the origin of life
Early evolution of life as we know it may have depended on DNA's ability to absorb UV light.

Rocks could reveal secrets of life on Earth - and Mars
A new UK project could help detect evidence for life on Mars, as well as improve our understanding of how it evolved on Earth.

Silicon May Have Been The Key To Start Of Life On Earth
A scientist at the University of Sheffield has discovered that silicon may have been key to the establishment of life on earth.

Clues to our birth may be written in space
Extraterrestrial molecules found in meteorites may hold the key to the origin of life on Earth, according to chemistry research at the University.

Origins of Life
The origin of life lies in unique ocean reefs, and scientists have developed an approach to help investigate them better

Early Earth haze may have spurred life, says University of Colorado study
Hazy skies on early Earth could have provided a substantial source of organic material useful for emerging life on the planet

Selecting life: Scientists find new way to search for origin of life
Researchers have found that mineral surfaces may have played critical roles organizing, or activating, molecules that would become essential ingredients to all life...

Comet dust brought back to Earth: paving the way for Rosetta
Scientists around the world eagerly await the arrival of sample particles from Comet Wild 2, which are being brought back to Earth by the US Stardust spacecraft

UCLA scientists strengthen case for life more than 3.8 billion years ago
"This paper shows, with far greater confidence than we ever had before, that these rocks are older than 3.8 billion years,"

Prebiotic synthesis from CO atmospheres: Implications for the origins of life
Study showing that a CO-CO2-N2-H2O atmosphere can give a variety of bioorganic compounds with yields comparable to those obtained from a strongly reducing atmosphere. Atmospheres containing carbon monoxide might therefore have been conducive to prebiotic

Expanding protein universe and its origin from the biological Big Bang
The authors attempted to glance at the origin of life by understanding the cause of peculiar patterns that nature imprints on protein structural space in the course of evolution...

Self-organizing biochemical cycles
The plausibility of theories postulating the development of complex chemical organization without requiring the replication of genetic polymers such as RNA was examined.

Prebiotic cytosine synthesis: A critical analysis and implications for the origin of life
The article presents series of reviews in which the chemical evidence for the availability of the Watson-Crick bases at the start of life is considered in detail.

The stability of the RNA bases: Implications for the origin of life
Results indicate that a high-temperature origin of life may be possible, but it cannot involve adenine, uracil, guanine, or cytosine.