It's unlikely that the first self-replicating organism at the origin of life was a protein. As you point out, there are just too many moving parts that need to

It's unlikely that the first self-replicating organism at the origin of life was a protein. As you point out, there are just too many moving parts that need to come together simultaneously. These days, I believe research is tending towards something closer to RNA, which has the nice properties of both encoding information efficiently and catalyzing reactions involving its own nucleotides. It may also have started with a type of genetic polymer that no longer exists in life as we know it. Interesting but approachable article on the topic: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128251-300-first-life-the-search-for-the-first-replicator/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128251-300-first-li...