The Grayness of the Origin of Life.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Smith HH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8226951 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The Grayness of the Origin of Life.
Smith Hillary H HH Hyde Andrew S AS Simkus Danielle N DN Libby Eric E Maurer Sarah E SE Graham Heather V HV Kempes Christopher P CP Sherwood Lollar Barbara B Chou Luoth L Ellington Andrew D AD Fricke G Matthew GM Girguis Peter R PR Grefenstette Natalie M NM Pozarycki Chad I CI House Christopher H CH Johnson Sarah Stewart SS
Life (Basel, Switzerland) 20210529 6
In the search for life beyond Earth, distinguishing the living from the non-living is paramount. However, this distinction is often elusive, as the origin of life is likely a stepwise evolutionary process, not a singular event. Regardless of the favored origin of life model, an inherent "grayness" blurs the theorized threshold defining life. Here, we explore the ambiguities between the biotic and the abiotic at the origin of life. The role of grayness extends into later transitions as well. By r ...[more]
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