Protein-like aggregates known as amyloids can bind to molecules of genetic material. It is possible that these two types of molecules stabilized each other during the development of life—and that this might even have paved the way for the genetic code.
How organisms develop from inanimate matter is one of the biggest questions in science. Although many possible explanations have been proposed, there are no definitive answers. That’s no surprise: these processes took place 3 billion to 4 billion years ago, when the conditions on Earth were completely different from today.
“Over this vast period of time, evolution has thoroughly obliterated the traces that lead back to the origins of life,” says Roland Riek, professor of physical chemistry and associate director of ETH Zurich’s new interdisciplinary Center for Origin and Prevalence of Life. Science has no choice but to formulate hypotheses—and to substantiate them as thoroughly as possible with experimental data.
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