The very first fossils that we know of from about 3.5 billion years ago already show amazing complexity. The early history of Earth, roughly between 4.5 and 4.1 billion years ago, is still largely shrouded in mystery, since there are no rocks from this era that we can use to reconstruct the early environments in which life was formed and evolved. Currently, there is still a large gap in our understanding of how life on Earth was formed. Since the time of Darwin’s “warm little pond”, a large number of different theories have been published. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this.

One of the most intriguing questions in science has been the origin of life on Earth. The emphasis is on smectite-group clay minerals, such as montmorillonite and nontronite. This review provides an overview of what has happened and is now happening in the experimental clay world related to the origin of life. All of these observations and more must be subjected to strict experimental analysis. Amino acids and nucleotides adsorb on clay surfaces on Earth and subsequently polymerize. Additionally, there is the catalytic role of small organic molecules, such as dicarboxylic acids and amino acids found on carbonaceous chondrites, in the formation of Fe-clays themselves. This points to the formation of amino acids on the surface of clay minerals on carbonaceous chondrites from simpler molecules, e.g., CO 2, NH 3, and HCN. One of the major questions is: What was the catalytic role of Fe-clays in the origin and development of metabolism here on Earth? First, there is the recent finding of a chiral amino acid (isovaline) that formed on the surface of a clay mineral on several carbonaceous chondrites. This has put clays front and center in the studies on the origin of life not only on Mars but also here on Earth.

This raised the question of the possible role that these clays may have played in the origin of life on Mars. The data from Mars have suggested that Fe-clays such as nontronite, ferrous saponites, and several other clays were formed on early Mars when it had sufficient water. The clay data coming from Mars and carbonaceous chondrites have necessitated a review of the role that clays played in the origin of life on Earth. It is time for Clays and the Origin of Life to have its experimental adjunct. There are three groups of scientists dominating the search for the origin of life: the organic chemists (the Soup), the molecular biologists (RNA world), and the inorganic chemists (metabolism and transient-state metal ions), all of which have experimental adjuncts.

My time at sandrock clay