At some point during the evolution of life on Earth, inorganic matter became organic, nonliving matter became living. How this happened is one of humankind's greatest mysteries. Today, scientists work to develop synthetic cells that mimic living cells, hoping to uncover clues that will help answer the question: how did life on Earth begin?

While there's no single definition of life, three elements recur across biology:

• compartmentalization—a barrier that separates a cell's interior from the environment;
• metabolism—building up and breaking down molecules to carry out cell function; and
• selection—a process in which certain molecules are favored over others.

In the past, researchers have focused on compartmentalization, but not on metabolism. Yet this cycle of building up and breaking down molecules is a critical aspect of how living cells respond to environmental stimuli, replicate and evolve.

Paper:

**Abiotic lipid metabolism enables membrane plasticity in artificial cells **

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-025-01829-5