Numerous experimental investigations have been conducted to explain the diversity and unity of life. Specifically, these models have aimed to provide evidence that the conditions of early Earth provided an environment capabable of generating complex organic molecules and simple cell structure.
Firstly, one must note tha early Earth provided inorganic precursors from which organic molecules could be synthesized. This is because there was a plethora of available free energy and an absence of a significant amount of oxygen. These molecules served as building blocks, scientifically termed monomers, such as nucleotides and amino acids. Polymers were produced as a result of joining monomers. The polymers possessed the ability to replicate, store and transfer information.
The organic soup model hypothesises that natural chemical reactions catalysed by the input of energy simply synthesised organic molecules. On the other hand, other models suggest that primitive life developed on clay surfaces, surviving as catalysts for the assembly of macromolecules.
The RNA World hypothesis proposes that RNA, not DNA was the earliest genetic material.