The building blocks of life, such as proteins and enzymes, are believed to have formed through chemical reactions triggered by “microlightning” between water drops. This new theory challenges the existing understanding of how simple gases reacted to create these essential molecules.
According to Richard Zare at Stanford University, this is a fresh perspective on the origin of life’s building blocks. He notes that the gases present in the early Earth atmosphere, such as methane, ammonia, and nitrogen, do not contain carbon-nitrogen bonds – a crucial component for life.
Experiments conducted by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey in 1952 showed that electricity can transform water and these gases into organic molecules. However, their original hypothesis was that lightning was the source of this electrical energy. Given the low probability of lightning striking high concentrations of gases in the oceans or atmosphere, many scientists have questioned the role of lightning in the emergence of life on Earth around 4 billion years ago.
Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2472382-the-surprising-new-idea-behind-what-sparked-life-on-earth