by Chaotropy
This article is the third in a series on the origins of life, abiogenesis, chemical evolution, and the RNA world hypothesis.
The exact definition of life has been debated in the scientific community for decades. In the following we will stick to the NASA definition:
”Life is a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution”
Therefore, a chemical system must meet two preconditions: it must be able to organize itself and it must be able to reproduce itself. Many chemicals fulfill the first precondition. In a primitive way, even a blob of fat in meat broth is self-organizing: electrostatically uncharged (apolar) fat molecules form a sphere in water — the optimal surface-to-volume ratio — to reach the energetic optimum in the vicinity of electrostatically charged (polar) water molecules. Due to its lower density compared to water, a fat droplet will rise to the surface of the water. Upon reaching the surface, it transforms from a spherical shape into a thin circular layer, which is the most energetically favorable configuration — essentially forming a blob of fat.
Some fats, however, are only partially apolar: they are charged at one end and can interact electrostatically with water molecules (water-loving/hydrophilic), and uncharged at the other end…
