Complex processes that support all life have been serendipitously spotted with no cells needed, hinting that life could have started spontaneously in early oceans
(circa 2014)
Metabolic processes that underpin life on Earth have arisen spontaneously outside of cells. The serendipitous finding that metabolism โ the cascade of reactions in all cells that provides them with the raw materials they need to survive โ can happen in such simple conditions provides fresh insights into how the first life formed. It also suggests that the complex processes needed for life may have surprisingly humble origins.
[The]ย findings suggest that many of these reactions could have occurred spontaneously in Earthโs early oceans, catalysed by metal ions rather than the enzymes that drive them in cells today.
