Introduction xi Ernesto DI MAURO -- Chapter 1 The Emergence of Life-Nurturing Conditions in the Universe 1 Juan VLADILO -- 1.1 Defining properties of life -- 1.1.1 Implications of the defining properties -- 1.2 Life-supporting conditions and environments -- 1.2.1 Chemical ingredients -- 1.2.2 Physical conditions -- 1.2.3 Habitable worlds -- 1.3 Setting the stage for chemistry and life in the Universe -- 1.3.1 Births of the laws of chemistry -- 1.3.2 Production of chemical elements -- 1.3.3 Assemblage of prebiotic molecules -- 1.3.4 Origin of water -- 1.3.5 Appearance of rocky planets -- 1.4 The habitable Universe -- 1.4.1 Circumstellar habitable zones -- 1.4.2 Galactic habitable zones -- 1.5 Planetary environments suitable for the origin of life -- 1.5.1 Abiogenesis on planetary surfaces -- 1.5.2 Abiogenesis in the oceans -- 1.5.3 Implications for the search for life outside Earth -- 1.6 The quest for inhabited worlds -- 1.7 References -- Chapter 2 Chirality and the Origins of Life 31 Guillaume LESEIGNEUR and Uwe MEIERHENRICH -- 2.1 Introduction to chirality -- 2.2 The asymmetry of life -- 2.3 The origin of homochirality -- 2.3.1 Stochastic theories -- 2.3.2 Deterministic theories -- 2.4 Space missions and the search for life and its origins -- 2.4.1 Rosetta -- 2.4.2 ExoMars -- 2.5 References -- Chapter 3 The Role of Formamide in Prebiotic Chemistry 55 Raffaele SALADINO, Giovanna COSTANZO and Bruno Mattia BIZZARRI -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Effect of minerals and self-organization in the prebiotic chemistry of formamide -- 3.2.1 Surface catalysis and geochemical scenarios -- 3.2.2 Chemomimesis, circularity and thermodynamic niches -- 3.2.3 Nucleosides phosphorylation -- 3.3 Continuity and mineral complexity -- 3.4 Energy-driven selectivity -- 3.5 References -- Chapter 4 A Praise of Imperfection: Emergence and Evolution of Metabolism 79 Juli PERETÓ -- 4.1 From Darwin to Jacob: perfection does not exist -- 4.2 Protometabolic networks -- 4.3 Enzyme promiscuity and metabolic innovation -- 4.4 Promiscuity, moonlighting and the essence of life -- 4.5 Acknowledgments -- 4.6 References -- Chapter 5 Viruses, Viroids and the Origins of Life 99 David DEAMER and Marie-Christine MAUREL -- 5.1 How were viruses discovered? A brief history -- 5.2 Viral diversity -- 5.3 Viral structure and function -- 5.4 Viruses and mammalian genomes -- 5.5 Role of viruses in human evolution, health and disease -- 5.6 Viroids may be a link to ancient evolutionary pathways -- 5.7 Origin and evolution of viroids -- 5.8 Conclusion -- 5.9 References -- Chapter 6 Is the Heterotrophic Theory of the Origin of Life Still Valid? 117 Antonio LAZCANO -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 The roaring 20s -- 6.3 Coacervates as models of precellular structures -- 6.4 Precellular evolution and the emergence of cells -- 6.5 Final remarks: does Oparin still matter? -- 6.6 Acknowledgments -- 6.7 References -- Chapter 7 Making Biochemistry-Free (Generalized) Life in a Test Tube 135 Juan PÉREZ-MERCADER -- 7.1 Summary -- 7.2 Introduction and background -- 7.3 Laboratory implementation of an artificial autonomous, and self-organized functional system -- 7.4 More physics and chemistry working together: phoenix, self-reproduction via spores, population growth and chemotaxis -- 7.5 Discussion and conclusions -- 7.6 Acknowledgments -- 7.7 Appendices: Some additional emergent features in PISA "powered" synthetic biochemistry free protocells -- 7.7.1 Chemotactic behavior -- 7.7.2 Adaptive behavior and click-PISA -- 7.7.3 Competitive exclusion principle and iniferter PISA -- 7.7.4 PISA and its control by chemical automata -- 7.7.5 Integrating PISA and information control with the Belousov-Zhabotinsky chemical reaction -- 7.8 References -- Chapter 8 Hydrothermalism for the Chemical Evolution Toward the Simplest Life-Like System on the Hadean Earth 163 Kunio KAWAMURA -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.1.1 Realistic life-like systems on the Hadean Earth -- 8.1.2 Water in universe -- 8.1.3 Two-gene hypothesis, minerals and high temperature -- 8.2 Hydrothermal environment for the chemical evolution of biomolecules -- 8.2.1 As an energy source -- 8.2.2 Temperature and pressure -- 8.2.3 Biochemical interactions -- 8.2.4 Minerals and the thermodynamically open system -- 8.3 Hydrothermal methodologies regarding the origin-of-life study -- 8.3.1 Technical background of research tools for hydrothermal reactions -- 8.3.2 Recent development using flow system -- 8.4 RNA world versus hydrothermalism -- 8.4.1 Stability and accumulation of RNA -- 8.4.2 RNA-based life-like system under hydrothermal environments -- 8.5 Future outlook and conclusions -- 8.6 Acknowledgments -- 8.7 References -- Chapter 9 Studies in Mineral-Assisted Protometabolisms 193 Jean-François LAMBERT, Louis TER-OVANESSIAN and Marie-Christine MAUREL -- 9.1 Metabolism, protometabolism and minerals -- 9.2 Adsorption on mineral surfaces -- 9.2.1 Adsorption mechanisms -- 9.2.2 Adsorption selectivities -- 9.3 Mineral surfaces and reaction thermodynamics -- 9.3.1 Minerals as reagents -- 9.3.2 Concentrating reagents from the solution -- 9.3.3 Altering free enthalpies of reaction -- 9.3.4 Platforms to capture free energy from macroscopic sources (space gradients and time fluctuations) -- 9.4 Minerals and reaction kinetics: heterogeneous catalysis -- 9.4.1 Lessons from industrial heterogeneous catalysis -- 9.4.2 What can heterogeneous catalysts do? -- 9.4.3 Reaction selectivity -- 9.5 A case study: primordial synthesis of pyrimidines -- 9.6 Conclusion -- 9.7 References -- Chapter 10 A Rationale for the Evolution of the Genetic Code in Relation to the Stability of RNA and Protein Structures 217 Andrew TRAVERS -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Codon-anticodon recognition -- 10.3 Concluding remarks -- 10.4 Acknowledgments -- 10.5 References.