Access

News and Views

Nature Geoscience 2, 8–9 (1 January 2009) | doi:10.1038/ngeo400

Astrobiology: Impacts and origins of life

Andr|[eacute]| Brack

The chemical evolution of cellular life on early Earth from a mixture of water, carbon and nitrogen is shrouded in mystery. In the 1950s, formation in the atmosphere of molecules that can serve as precursors to life was illustrated in a remarkable experiment by Stanley Miller, who obtained five amino acids by exposing a gaseous mixture of methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water to electric discharges.