and does this mean we can recreate this process to manipulate life into whatever we want?
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An excellent question and one that I’ve wondered a lot about myself. The most interesting and well thought out explanation that I’ve heard of is called the Clay Hypothesis which was proposed by British organic chemist and molecular biologist, the late Graham Cairns-Smith.
You can read a more detailed explanation here: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Cairns-Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Cairns-Smith), but the TLDR is that clay minerals form naturally with unique shapes which are preserved as they grow. Then, they dry out, break apart and are blown about by the wind where they settle and are able to start growing again thus forming the basis for primitive evolutionary replication (‘stickier’ crystals reproduce more successfully). Certain clay crystals are able to selectively trap other types of molecules to their surface and thus this process in the right environment could lead to the development of primitive self-replicating life.
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