Origin of Life in Chemically Complex Messy Environments

Dear Colleagues,

Traditionally, the vast majority of prebiotic chemistry research has consisted of experiments focused on the behavior of a restricted spectrum of organic molecules, usually studying the components of life separately, where the results are limited by the simulated scenario, also described as "clean and isolated" experiments. However, research on the origin of life needs to think big and outside the box in order to enable continuous progress in the field. Considering the prebiotic Earth four billion years ago (a messy atmosphere, in other words), a chaotic mélange of diverse starting materials appears realistic. As prebiotic chemists and origin-of-life researchers, we must modify our current approach and consider more chemical and geological scenarios in which both physical processes and driving forces towards primitive life formation are examined. In this Special Issue, we welcome the submission of original research papers, comprehensive reviews, and perspectives that demonstrate or summarize advances related to the origin of life in various complex chemical and prebiotically feasible environments.

Dr. Ranajay Saha
Dr. Alberto Vázquez-Salazar 
Guest Editors

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