A Statistical Chemistry Approach to the Origin of Life

We revisit some theoretical models dealing with the chemical emergence of life-like properties in prebiotic systems. Special emphasis is given to models involving random assemblies of mutually catalytic organic molecules, as opposed to scenarios in which individual molecular species are endowed with the capacity of self-replication. We highlight here the challenge of tracing the very first steps of biogenesis, when self-replication, mutation, selection and evolution may have been hardly recognizable. The models we discuss share the assumption that a large repertoire of relatively simple organic compounds could spontaneously form prebiotically, and the notion that a statistical approach, independent of detailed molecular properties, can uncover some general principles underlying biogenic processes.