In living organisms today, complex molecules like RNA and DNA are constructed with the help of enzymes. So how did these molecules form before life (and enzymes) existed? Why did some molecules end up ...

In the microscopic world inside a stem cell, some of the most important decisions about life’s earliest stages come down to only a handful of molecules. A new study from UNC Charlotte shows that just ...

The complex precursors to biological molecules can form spontaneously in interstellar space, according to a lab experiment that opens up new pathways for the origin of life in the universe. In the ...

What made ribose the sugar of choice for life's code? Scientists at Scripps Research may have cracked a major part of this mystery. Their experiments show that ribose binds more readily and ...