Hypotheses and dilemmas around the origin and uniqueness of life

Abstract

The emergence of life on Earth and its almost infinite diversity, reflected by a myriad of living organisms, are among the dilemmas that have forever fascinated scientists and philosophers. Today, we are still not able to determine what exactly initiated the chain of events leading to the rise of life – the mechanism of replication of initial structures or perhaps the occurrence of first metabolic reactions. Further approximations of these issues shall probably constitute an overwhelming driving force for future development of life sciences.