How did life form from non-living matter (abiogenesis)?
In: Biology
The great big question.
Nobody knows, I’m afraid!
Life is incredibly complex. Some can argue that even though it is so complex, given *billions* of years on Earth, at some point it should spontaneously manifest. Just by pure chance.
Others may argue that it’s still too farfetched. Panspermia is one alternative theory. It suggests that Earth was “infected” with life from outer space. For example through bacteria which survived traveling on meteorites. This would give us the whole solar system, and maybe even further, to consider our boiling pot for spontaneous life, increasing the chances of it occurring.
But still that pushes the question one step further. How did it start *originally*?
Scientists have tried to recreate the conditions of early Earth in labs to see what comes out of the primordial soup. While they saw some interesting molecules being formed, they never came close to creating life.
Some argue that life is trivial. It will occur anywhere the conditions are met, given some time. It’s just natural, because the arrangement of molecules which turn into life is more energetically favorable. So it’s physics, and no “mystery”.
Religious people may see this as proof of divine intervention. The origin of life is often “explained” in religious texts.
Naturally, more wilder alternative theories such as alien intervention have been proposed.
In the end though, nobody has ever observed life being formed from inanimate materials, so the question remains open.
PS. Note that, the Theory of Evolution never attempts to explain the *origin* of life.
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