Origin of Life
The question of how simple chemical molecules first gave rise to self-replicating systems is one of the deepest unsolved mysteries of science. Hypotheses range from hydrothermal vents to RNA worlds.
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DNA is today's storage molecule of life — but was it the first?
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The origin of life is one of science's greatest unsolved mysteries: How did simple chemical molecules become the first systems that could copy themselves? Researchers have different ideas about this. Some think it happened at hot, chemically active places deep under the ocean (hydrothermal vents), while others believe that RNA – a substance similar to DNA – acted as both the instruction manual and the copying machine all in one. These early systems may have eventually developed into the DNA we know today.
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Last Updated
2026-02-17