Our recent article, published in the ACS Accounts of Chemical Research, overviews mechanisms through which layered minerals could have facilitated the formation of the first molecules of life and molecules looking like the first molecules of life. We discuss how one could tell those apart based on their composition, local environment and the encapsulating layered mineral.
Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.4c00173
Read the news article from the School of Chemistry: https://chem.ed.ac.uk/chemistry-minerals-sheds-light-origins-life