The review article, titled “The protometabolic nature of prebiotic chemistry” and published on 19 October 2023 in Chemical Society Reviews, argues that prebiotic chemistry likely functioned as a protometabolic system, where interconnected synthetic pathways and dissipative autocatalytic cycles under fluctuating environments could have driven the formation of self-sustaining networks foundational to early life. In the video below, graduate teaching assistant Marcos Sanz Sánchez from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) explains how photochemical reduction reactions—particularly those involving nitrate as an electron source—could have driven the formation of key prebiotic compounds such as aldehydes, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), and formaldehyde.

Key highlights of the paper include:

• Mapping prebiotic reaction networks: The paper constructs a comprehensive “protometabolic map” displaying how small-molecule precursors such as HCN, formaldehyde, and formamide interconvert via pathways that generate sugars, amino acids, and nucleotides.
• Dissipative, autocatalytic cycles: It emphasizes the importance of non-equilibrium, energy-dissipating cycles—driven by chemical fuels and kinetic asymmetries—to steer reactions forward and maintain dynamic, self-reinforcing chemical networks.
• Bridging to known metabolic cycles: Experiments show non-enzymatic formation of intermediates from TCA/glyoxylate cycles under mild conditions, hinting that such proto metabolic loops could have been early steps toward modern metabolism.
• Emergence of catalytic replicators & homochirality: The authors discuss how these networks might foster the formation of primitive catalysts (oligo peptides, nucleotides), enable self-assembly, autocatalysis, and even amplify slight chiral imbalances toward homochirality in protocells.
• Suppression of chemical noise: By revealing pathway interconnectivity, they propose strategies—such as compartmentalization, phase separation, and recursive oscillations—to channel reactions productively and prevent chaotic chemical proliferation.
• Towards minimal metabolisms in protocells: Integrating multiple cycles with compartment formation and feedback loops may have enabled the first self sustaining, evolutionary chemical systems—proto cells—with boundary growth and reproduction capacities.

Watch the video below to learn more.