Chemistry

Creative, interdisciplinary, and bold, the study of the origins of life has entered a new age. Welcome to Quanta Magazine’s special series on the origins of life.

After decades of bickering about which molecules came first, a new generation of scientists is rethinking what life was, is, and could be.

Energetic pathways that make and break complex molecules are critical to all life. It’s even possible that these self-sustaining cycles could have been key at life’s beginning.

Is self-enclosure life’s greatest trick? According to the lipid-first theory, a cell membrane enabled life by giving chemistry a place to gather.

Some believe the earliest life emerged from self-copying molecules that could mutate and even evolve. But that may not have been enough.

By probing its molecular structure, biologists are uncovering how a tangle of unstructured proteins turns into a strong, flexible fiber.

Lifelike biochemistry continued to unfold in sterilized soil for six years, pointing to a metabolic theory for how biology began.

Do we need quantum computers to fully understand complex chemical reactions? A new result, decades in the making, shows the surprising power of ordinary “classical” machines.

Scientists keep detecting new forms of ice. According to simulations, there could be many more left to find.