From Chemicals to Codes at the Origin of Life: A Bridge Too Far?

A report from the University of North Carolina, "New evidence emerges on the origins of life on Earth," opens on a deliberately Biblical note. We picture the two UNC scientists hovering over the waters of the primordial soup:

In the beginning, there were simple chemicals. And they produced amino acids that eventually became the proteins necessary to create single cells. And the single cells became plants and animals. Recent research is revealing how the primordial soup created the amino acid...