How Could Life Evolve From Cyanide?

Steven Strogatz explores the origins of life with Jack Szostak and Betül Kaçar. Szostak considers how early-Earth chemistry, including cyanide-bearing environments, could give rise to precursors of RNA and DNA, and discusses competing settings for life’s beginnings. Kaçar explains how reconstructing ancient genes helps researchers investigate the evolution of essential biological processes. Together, the conversations examine what experiments can reveal about the earliest steps toward life and whether replaying evolutionary history would produce different outcomes.