Origin of Life Chemistry?

An interesting review was published in the Chem. Rev. ASAPs a few weeks ago (doi: 10.1021/cr078240l) concerning some of the possible chemistry at the beginning of life.  We all know life is sustained and perpetuated through the DNA/protein world which exists today.  An RNA world is thought to have pre-dated this DNA/protein world.  And the authors of this review contend that a carbohydrate polymer world probably existed before modulating into the RNA world which eventually gave way to today’s DNA world.

I rather like reading and pondering about life’s origins.  It’s really interesting to me as a synthetic organic chemist to consider how the complex array of life came to exist from simple building blocks, and how the building blocks we have today arose from the generally-accepted conditions of early Earth at the time life began.  Perhaps we’ve all heard of the famous Miller-Urey experiment which attempted to recreate those conditions.  Methane, ammonia and hydrogen were circulated over boiling water.  Electrodes were introduced to mimic lightning.  After a time, the composition of the mixture was analyzed, and a number of amino acids were detected.

But did that really recreate the conditions of early Earth?
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