UNC biochemists resurrect “molecular fossils” to conduct
experiments that undercut the predominant scientific theory of how life began
on Earth.
Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A
primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating.
This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process
that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened — how
those molecules began replicating — has been one of science’s enduring
mysteries.