On the laws for the emergence of life from the abiotic matter

摘要

In this work we pose a question if the laws for the emergence of life from the abiotic matter can exist even before carbonand the organic compounds were available. Carbon as an element became available via nucleosynthesis in the stars, andvarious carbon compounds were later made in the interstellar space and on the various objects in space. Is theemergence of life blue-printed as some general law which would then guarantee that life would evolve in the universe, oris it a law which co-evolved with the organic compounds and the environment in which they existed and which may be asubject to chance? This question is of a fundamental importance for astrobiology, which seeks extraterrestrial lifewithout really knowing if it exists. Numerous articles and books have been written on the subject of the inevitability oflife in the universe, on the evolution of matter which leads to life, and on the role of chance in the emergence of life. Weselect from these resources, critically examine them, and provide an inclusive summary, which we believe will be usefulto astrobiologists.© (2012) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.