A team of researchers from Purdue University claim to have discovered the "chemistry behind the origin of life" on Earth in simple droplets of water.
The "secret ingredient for building life" was called a "dramatic discovery" by the lead author of the paper.
He said that the chemistry behind the origin of life is what it is. This is the first demonstration that the basic building blocks of life can be formed in water.
It's not just the principle researchers who are heralding the discovery, they say it could have a huge impact on our understanding of how life began on Earth.
Alan Doucette, who was not involved in the research, told Futurism that he found the discovery fascinating.
The evidence seems to be growing that there is something special about the chemistry of small water droplets.
The theory that life began in the oceans is supported by the research. Scientists believe that the building blocks of proteins and life were formed billions of years ago when the earth was bombarded by meteorites.
Scientists have been surprised by the fact that this process requires both environments. Cooks and his colleagues were able to see chemical reactions inside water droplets using state-of-the-art spectrometers.
Where the sea meets the land could be explained by that conclusion.
Cooks and his team claim that the building blocks of life can be formed in water alone.
Cooks said that the rate of reactions in droplets were anywhere from a hundred to a million times faster than the same chemicals reacting in bulk solution.
Cooks and his team hope their finding will help them understand the basic processes involved in the formation of life on Earth, as well as help them investigate if we're alone in the universe, or even create our own versions of living matter.
The reactions could be useful in other areas.
Doucette said that water was essential to life on Earth. We have more to learn.
A Harvard study says we should not rule out underground life on the moon and Mars.
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