Functional abiotic metabolite assembly hypothesis for the early events in the origin of life.

Prebiotic amino acids and nucleobases can self-assemble into functional, amyloid-like structures, supporting early catalytic activity before the emergence of RNA and peptides.

• Why it matters: Understanding the transition from simple abiotic molecules to complex biological systems fills a critical gap in origin-of-life research, especially given the scarcity of peptides in abiotic contexts.
• What they did: The study proposes the Functional Abiotic Metabolite Assembly hypothesis, supported by evidence that meteorite-derived molecules and early Earth simulations form ordered assemblies capable of catalysis and compartmentalization.
• The result: This framework suggests that metabolite-like molecules could have driven primitive reactions and organization, enabling the evolution of more complex biological molecules and systems in early life.