In this work we pose a question if the laws for the emergence of life from the abiotic matter can exist even before carbon and the organic compounds were available. Carbon as an element became available via nucleosynthesis in the stars, and various carbon compounds were later made in the interstellar space and on the various objects in space. Is the emergence of life blue-printed as some general law which would then guarantee that life would evolve in the universe, or is it a law which co-evolved with the organic compounds and the environment in which they existed and which may be a subject to chance? This question is of a fundamental importance for astrobiology, which seeks extraterrestrial life without really knowing if it exists. Numerous articles and books have been written on the subject of the inevitability of life in the universe, on the evolution of matter which leads to life, and on the role of chance in the emergence of life. We select from these resources, critically examine them, and provide an inclusive summary, which we believe will be useful to astrobiologists.

Date Published: 15 October 2012
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8521, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XV, 852109 (15 October 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.924817

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8521:
Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XV
Richard B. Hoover; Gilbert V. Levin; Alexei Yu. Rozanov; Paul C. W. Davies, Editor(s)