From the Chemistry of Life’s Emergence to the Chemistry of Life

Abstract

Enzymes catalyze cellular chemistry, ultimately enabling life to exist. They are complex and specialized protein catalysts formed by millions of years of evolution. In modern cells, enzymes, and the metabolic reactions accelerated by them, are often localized within highly specialized and organized membrane-bound or membrane-less cellular compartments. In short, catalysis and compartmentalization are intertwined central traits of life and must have been important factors that shaped its emergence. Several questions surround the emergence of both life traits: Did primordial metabolic reaction networks precede the complex protein apparatuses that now enabled them? What catalysts did enable such prebiotic reactions, and how did they later evolve into enzymes? How did prebiotic compartmentalization influence the catalytic processes? Over the years, many hypotheses have been proposed to explain life’s emergence, primarily based on the intrinsic properties of individual molecules (e.g., RNA) or environments (e.g., warm little ponds or hydrothermal vents). With this Special Issue, we chose to explore the role of prebiotic catalysis and its relation to compartmentalization from various at times contrasting viewpoints. Here, we aim to support more holistic approaches that tie together all life’s key features and, in particular, close the gap between abiotic and biotic reactions and scaffolds. An open discussion of different viewpoints is often the basis of novel scientific developments; it also brought this Special Issue to life, connecting us editors across different research fields. We come from different scientific backgrounds, focus on different questions concerning prebiotic chemistry, and have different opinions on life’s emergence. Nevertheless, we always find common ground from which interesting scientific questions, which could be addressed by both of us together, arise. We think this overall spirit is also reflected in this Special Issue, which shows a variety of opinions, approaches, and disciplines that could provide insights and inspiration to uncover how life emerged from nonliving matter. This article has not yet been cited by other publications.