English

Origin of Life

General Physics 2012-01-17 v9 Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Abstract

The evolution of life has been a big enigma despite rapid advancements in the fields of biochemistry, astrobiology, and astrophysics in recent years. The answer to this puzzle has been as mind-boggling as the riddle relating to evolution of Universe itself. Despite the fact that panspermia has gained considerable support as a viable explanation for origin of life on the Earth and elsewhere in the Universe, the issue remains far from a tangible solution. This paper examines the various prevailing hypotheses regarding origin of life like abiogenesis, RNA World, Iron-sulphur World, and panspermia; and concludes that delivery of life-bearing organic molecules by the comets in the early epoch of the Earth alone possibly was not responsible for kick-starting the process of evolution of life on our planet.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0907.3552,
  title  = {Origin of Life},
  author = {Ashwini Kumar Lal},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0907.3552},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

32 pages, 8 figures,invited review article, minor addition

R2 v1 2026-06-21T13:27:13.493Z