How did non-living chemistry become living biology? It's one of the deepest open questions in science, and while we don't have the answer, we've learned a great deal about how it could have happened. We look at the ingredients life needs, the famous experiments that made life's building blocks from scratch, the leading ideas about where it all began, and why honest uncertainty is the right attitude here.

You'll come away understanding what separates the living from the non-living, why the "RNA world" idea is so appealing, why deep-sea vents are a favourite candidate for life's cradle, and how to tell a genuine scientific hypothesis from a just-so story.

Talking Science is sponsored by Kinsoft. Visit www.kinsoft.com.au

Further reading: Nick Lane's The ...