Cell-like structures containing very simple proteins and even pores in the membrane around them have been created in lab experiments that aimed to mimic the conditions found in the crust of early Earth.
“We start with very primitive chemicals, and we obtain something with increasing complexity and increasing order,” says Christian Mayer at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. “We believe that this system is very interesting to look at when it comes to the origin of life.”