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PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY

Mist and replication

Nature Physics volume 18, pages 480–481 (2022)Cite this article

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The transition from chemistry to evolvable molecular systems is at the core of origins of life studies. Now, the acidic dew–liquid water dynamic cycling inside simulated Hadean rock pores is found to possibly provide a confined environment for strand separation, replication, mutation, and the evolution of nucleic acids.

The transition from chemistry to biology is thought to have happened relatively soon after the Earth–Moon system was formed. This period, the Hadean eon, likely had many energy sources available to facilitate the prebiotic reactions that eventually gave rise to life on Earth.

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Fig. 1: Differentially heated simulated rock pores create a prebiotic thermocycler.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, Maharashtra, India

    Sudha Rajamani

  2. Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution and Firebird Biomolecular Sciences, LLC, Alachua, FL, USA

    Elisa Biondi

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  1. Sudha Rajamani
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  2. Elisa Biondi
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Correspondence to Elisa Biondi.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Rajamani, S., Biondi, E. Mist and replication. Nat. Phys. 18, 480–481 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01549-4

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