The Grayness of the Origin of Life

Abstract

In the search for life beyond Earth, distinguishing the living from the non-living is paramount. However, this distinction is often elusive, as the origin of life is likely a stepwise evolutionary process, not a singular event. Regardless of the favored origin of life model, an inherent “grayness” blurs the theorized threshold defining life. Here, we explore the ambiguities between the biotic and the abiotic at the origin of life. The role of grayness extends into later transitions as well. By recognizing the limitations posed by grayness, life detection researchers will be better able to develop methods sensitive to prebiotic chemical systems and life with alternative biochemistries.

An open source computational workflow for the discovery of autocatalytic networks in abiotic reactions

“…, ref. 27, 77 and 78) of such methods and enables exploration of chemical landscapes which lead in less obvious ways to modern reaction cycles involving known compounds, and allows for discovery of novel compounds and reaction motifs and ways to generate phase separation, the development of information transfer systems, and autocatalysis in ways consistent with Ganti's chemoton model, 69,79 e.g. , in which the development of chemical properties is related to the development of systemic chemical network properties.…”

Evidence of Selection in Mineral Mediated Polymerization Reactions Executed in a Robotic Chemputer System

“…Efforts have been made to study the influence of mineral environments in peptide formation reactions, since minerals were abundant on the early earth [15,16] and may have been the ′beaker′ as well as the catalyst for the OoL [17–19] . Clay minerals have been of a particular focus for those studies due to their structural complexity, [20,21] but also iron‐containing minerals were shown to assist peptide formation if present in the reaction system [22,23] .…”

“…Efforts have been made to study the influence of mineral environments in peptide formation reactions, since minerals were abundant on the early earth [15,16] and may have been the 'beaker' as well as the catalyst for the OoL. [17][18][19] Clay minerals have been of a particular focus for those studies due to their structural complexity, [20,21] but also iron-containing minerals were shown to assist peptide formation if present in the reaction system. [22,23] While those studies attempted to explore the influence of mineral environments on peptide formation reactions, more work is required to understand the underlying processes that occur in these chemical systems.…”

Life Underground: Investigating Microbial Communities and Their Biomarkers in Mars‐Analog Lava Tubes at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

“…Of course, despite the potential for caves as shelters from temperature and UV fluctuations, the Martian environment differs significantly from Earth in several significant ways: extreme temperatures, low pressure, and an anoxic atmosphere present biological challenges not recreated in any known analog. Even if life on Mars and Earth share a common ancestor, Martian biology would have likely followed a different evolutionary path, or life on Mars may have originated from an independent genesis (Smith et al., 2021). This study is focused not on specific possibilities for Martian life, but whether life could harvest energy in an analogous mineralogical setting, and whether that life could be detected with current space flight techniques.…”