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Abstract
In laboratory experiments, Sutherland and other scientists have produced DNA, proteins and other core components of cells by gently heating simple carbon-based chemicals, subjecting them to UV radiation and intermittently drying them out. The shift is hardly unanimous, but scientists who support the idea of a terrestrial beginning say it offers a solution to a long-recognized paradox: that although water is essential for life, it is also destructive to life's core components. [...]something held these disparate parts together, keeping them separate from their environment. When laboratory research into life's origins started in earnest in the 1950s, many researchers assumed that life began in the sea, with a rich mix of carbon-based chemicals dubbed the primordial soup.