Origin of Life on Earth

A great mystery is how living matter can be created from nonliving. This puzzle is so deep that many creationists  insist that it could not happen by natural means, and required direct intervention of a creator.  Of course zillions of cells manage the feat every day, without any obvious supernatural assistance, but they do have the benefit of an army of cellular machines which are exquisitely designed for the purpose, machines which are manufactured by the cells themselves, from blueprints stored in their DNA.

So how did the whole intricate process arise? The trick is to get enough of the cellular apparatus in place for something like evolution to take place.

Cellular life requires both metabolism and heredity as a minimum, but together they pose something of a chicken and egg problem.  In modern cells neither can exist without the other, but which came first?

Of course such questions are not yet answerable so they are controversial among researchers.  Also controversial is the crucial question of whether the steps that led to life were an ineluctable result of chemistry or the result of accidental and unlikely series of events.


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