A team of chemists has utilized blockchain technology to simulate over 4 billion chemical reactions believed to be crucial to the origins of life on early Earth.
This innovative approach involves repurposing the process commonly used in cryptocurrency mining, where computers solve complex mathematical problems to earn tokens.
The team, led by senior author Bartosz A. Grzybowski of the Korea Institute for Basic Science and the Polish Academy of Sciences, aimed to explore the potential emergence of primitive forms of metabolism without the involvement of enzymes.
Unveiling the Network of Early Life (NOEL)
To create this extensive chemical network, the researchers selected a set of primordial molecules, such as water, methane, and ammonia, and established rules for potential reactions.
