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2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life
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2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Origin of Life".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 December 2025 | Viewed by 9412

Special Issue Editor

Dr. James R. Lyons

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
Interests: planetary atmospheres; cosmochemistry; The Sun; astrobiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to introduce ‘2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life’, a Life Special Issue. This Special Issue encompasses a broad range of topics related to the origins of life. We encourage submissions from both early career researchers and established researchers in the field, as our aim for this Special Issue is to publish innovative research on all aspects of the origins of life and to provide a unique perspective towards the future of the field.

All researchers are invited to contribute submissions which focus on, but are not limited to, the following foundational and emergent research topics on the origins of life and related areas:

  • Astrobiology: All topics within astrobiology, including analog environments on Earth and the delivery of organics to Earth and other planets from space.
  • Astrochemistry: Organics and prebiotic molecular precursors in molecular clouds, protoplanetary disks, and the solar nebula.
  • Planetary science: Early conditions on Earth, Venus, Mars, and terrestrial exoplanets.
  • Geology, geochemistry and geobiology: Early surface conditions on terrestrial-type planets.
  • Prebiotic chemistry: Syntheses of monomeric and polymeric prebiotic molecules.
  • Chirality: Mechanisms for the preferential selection of enantiomers of chiral molecules.
  • Chemical evolution: Primitive catalysis and mechanisms for self-replication and Darwinian selection.
  • Protocells: Membrane synthesis, encapsulation, and primitive ion channels.
  • Synthetic biology: Non-traditional chemical systems capable of Darwinian evolution.
  • Complex systems: The chemical evolution of simple and more complex molecular precursors.

Previous Special Issue: 

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/L4U223I8XF
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/3K7IH47PTR

Dr. James R. Lyons
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • astrobiology
  • astrochemistry
  • planetary science
  • prebiotic chemistry
  • chirality
  • chemical evolution
  • protocells
  • synthetic biology
  • complex systems

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2049 KB  
Article
Sugars to Acids via Thioesters: A Computational Study
by Jeremy Kua and Jonathan D. Karin
Life 2025, 15(8), 1189; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15081189 - 26 Jul 2025
Viewed by 912
Abstract
Extant core metabolic cycles such as the TCA cycle and its related analog pathways utilize carboxylic acids as metabolites, with thioesters playing a key role. We examine if sugars from the potentially autocatalytic formose reaction can be converted to carboxylic acids in the [...] Read more.
Extant core metabolic cycles such as the TCA cycle and its related analog pathways utilize carboxylic acids as metabolites, with thioesters playing a key role. We examine if sugars from the potentially autocatalytic formose reaction can be converted to carboxylic acids in the absence of enzymes by calculating the thermodynamics and kinetics of such pathways. We zero in on a mechanism involving the addition of a thiol to an aldehyde, followed by intramolecular disproportionation to form a thioester that can be hydrolyzed into its carboxylic acid. This route is thermodynamically favorable but can have kinetic bottlenecks. We find that elimination of H2O or H2S is often the rate-determining step, and that alpha di-carbonyl reactants that do not require such a step are more feasible in the absence of catalysts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life)
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24 pages, 3829 KB  
Article
Protocell Dynamics: Modelling Growth and Division of Lipid Vesicles Driven by an Autocatalytic Reaction
by Japraj Taneja and Paul G. Higgs
Life 2025, 15(5), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15050724 - 29 Apr 2025
Viewed by 2062
Abstract
We study a computational model of a protocell, in which an autocatalytic reaction sustains itself inside a lipid vesicle. The autocatalytic reaction drives volume growth via osmosis. Membrane area grows due to addition of lipids from the environment. The membrane growth rate depends [...] Read more.
We study a computational model of a protocell, in which an autocatalytic reaction sustains itself inside a lipid vesicle. The autocatalytic reaction drives volume growth via osmosis. Membrane area grows due to addition of lipids from the environment. The membrane growth rate depends on the external lipid concentration and on the tension in the membrane. In the absence of division, a cell either reaches a state of homeostasis or grows to a point where the internal reaction collapses. If a cell becomes elongated, it can divide into two smaller spherical vesicles, conserving the total volume and area. We determine when it is energetically favorable for a large vesicle to divide. Division requires the buildup of a difference between the lipid areas on the outer and inner leaflets of the membrane. Division occurs most easily when the rate of flipping of lipids between leaflets is relatively slow. If the flipping is too fast, the parent cell grows large without dividing. There is a typical size at which division occurs, producing two daughter cells of unequal sizes. The smaller and larger daughters regrow to the same typical size before the next division. Protocells with an active metabolism reach a stable state where the internal autocatalytic reaction and the membrane growth are well balanced. Active protocells can grow and divide in conditions where an inactive vesicle without an internal reaction cannot. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life)
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32 pages, 15555 KB  
Article
Nanometric and Hydrophobic Green Rust Minerals upon Exposure to Amino Acids and Nickel as Prerequisites for a Primitive Chemiosmosis
by Nil Gaudu, Chloé Truong, Orion Farr, Adriana Clouet, Olivier Grauby, Daniel Ferry, Philippe Parent, Carine Laffon, Georges Ona-Nguema, François Guyot, Wolfgang Nitschke and Simon Duval
Life 2025, 15(4), 671; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15040671 - 19 Apr 2025
Viewed by 1222
Abstract
Geological structures known as alkaline hydrothermal vents (AHVs) likely displayed dynamic energy characteristics analogous to cellular chemiosmosis and contained iron-oxyhydroxide green rusts in the early Earth. Under specific conditions, those minerals could have acted as non-enzymatic catalysts in the development of early bioenergetic [...] Read more.
Geological structures known as alkaline hydrothermal vents (AHVs) likely displayed dynamic energy characteristics analogous to cellular chemiosmosis and contained iron-oxyhydroxide green rusts in the early Earth. Under specific conditions, those minerals could have acted as non-enzymatic catalysts in the development of early bioenergetic chemiosmotic energy systems while being integrated into the membrane of AHV-produced organic vesicles. Here, we show that the simultaneous addition of two probable AHV components, namely nickel and amino acids, impacts green rust’s physico-chemical properties, especially those required for its incorporation in lipid vesicle’s membranes, such as decreasing the mineral size to the nanometer scale and increasing its hydrophobicity. These results suggest that such hydrophobic nano green rusts could fit into lipid vesicle membranes and could have functioned as a primitive, inorganic precursor to modern chemiosmotic metalloenzymes, facilitating both electron and proton transport in early life-like systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life)
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Other

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43 pages, 1749 KB  
Hypothesis
The Origin of Life and Cellular Systems: A Continuum from Prebiotic Chemistry to Biodiversity
by Jaime Gómez-Márquez
Life 2025, 15(11), 1745; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15111745 - 13 Nov 2025
Viewed by 1646
Abstract
The origin of life remains one of the most profound and enduring enigmas in the biological sciences. Despite substantial advances in prebiotic chemistry, fundamental uncertainties persist regarding the precise mechanisms that enabled the emergence of the first cellular entity and, subsequently, the foundational [...] Read more.
The origin of life remains one of the most profound and enduring enigmas in the biological sciences. Despite substantial advances in prebiotic chemistry, fundamental uncertainties persist regarding the precise mechanisms that enabled the emergence of the first cellular entity and, subsequently, the foundational branches of the tree of life. After examining the core principles that define living systems, we propose that life emerged as a novel property of a prebiotically assembled system—formed through the integration of distinct molecular worlds, defined as sets of structurally and functionally related molecular entities that interact via catalytic, autocatalytic, and/or self-assembly processes. This emergence established a permanent system–process duality, wherein the system’s organization and its dynamic processes became inseparable. Upon acquiring the capacity to replicate and mutate its genetic program, this primordial organism initiated the evolutionary process, ultimately driving the diversification of life under the influence of evolutionary forces and leading to the formation of ecosystems. The challenge of uncovering the origin of life and the emergence of biodiversity is not solely scientific, it requires the integration of empirical evidence, theoretical insight, and critical reflection. This work does not claim certainty but proposes a perspective on how life and biodiversity may have arisen on Earth. Ultimately, time and scientific inquiry will determine the validity of this view. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life)
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13 pages, 1818 KB  
Hypothesis
The Origin of Life in the Early Continental Crust: A Comprehensive Model
by Ulrich Schreiber
Life 2025, 15(3), 433; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15030433 - 10 Mar 2025
Viewed by 2985
Abstract
Continental rift zones on the early Earth provided essential conditions for the emergence of the first cells. These conditions included an abundant supply of raw materials, cyclic fluctuations in pressure and temperature over millions of years, and transitions of gases between supercritical and [...] Read more.
Continental rift zones on the early Earth provided essential conditions for the emergence of the first cells. These conditions included an abundant supply of raw materials, cyclic fluctuations in pressure and temperature over millions of years, and transitions of gases between supercritical and subcritical phases. While evidence supports vesicle formation and the chemical evolution of peptides, the mechanism by which information was stored remains unresolved. This study proposes a model illustrating how interactions among organic molecules may have enabled the encoding of amino acid sequences in RNA. The model highlights the interplay between three key molecular components: a proto-tRNA, the vesicle membrane, and short peptides. The vesicle membrane acted as a reservoir for hydrophobic amino acids and facilitated their attachment to proto-tRNA. As a single strand, proto-tRNA also served as proto-mRNA, enabling it to be read by charged tRNAs. By replicating this information and arranging RNA strands, the first functional peptides such as pore-forming proteins may have formed, thus improving the long-term stability of the vesicles. This model further outlines how these vesicles may have evolved into the earliest cells, with enzymes and larger RNA molecules giving rise to tRNA and ribosomal structures. Shearing forces may have facilitated the first cellular divisions, representing a pre-LUCA stage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition—Featured Papers on the Origins of Life)
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