The elusive origins of life.

"The organism that gave rise to life on Earth existed at least 3.9 billion years ago" Moreover, based on what we know about the evolutionary tree of life, some researchers argue that the last universal common ancestor - an organism that gave rise to everything living today - existed at least 3.9 billion years ago. In short order, biochemists revealed how information is encoded in the sequence of building blocks that make up the DNA molecule, and how the sequence is used to construct the complex proteins from which organisms are made. Just three weeks later, news broke of the astonishing Miller-Urey experiment, which showed how a simple cocktail of chemicals could spontaneously generate amino acids, vital for building the molecules of life. Features HOW did life on Earth begin?. [Extracted from the article]