> After their success using cyanide to drive other chemical reactions, Krishnamurthy and his colleagues suspected that cyanide, even without enzymes, might also

> After their success using cyanide to drive other chemical reactions, Krishnamurthy and his colleagues suspected that cyanide, even without enzymes, might also help turn α-keto acids into amino acids. Because they knew nitrogen would be required in some form, they added ammonia—a form of nitrogen that would have been present on the early earth. Then, through trial and error, they discovered a third key ingredient: carbon dioxide. With this mixture, they quickly started seeing amino acids form. This is all well and good, interesting chemistry even. However, α-keto acids are not the kinds of things just laying around. These are reactive species and so would interact in a variety of ways with environmental nuclophiles, oxidants, and other stuff. The article doesn't link to the study in question, which is unfortunate and inexcusable. It does link to a study on a different system earlier this year. Origins of life research has been plagued with efforts that front-load the problem in various ways. For example, how do we make proteins abiotically? How do we make sugars abiotically? Load up a flask with all the amino acids you want. Zap it with whatever you want in terms of energy. At the end of it you won't have much but a mess. There seem to be fundamental principles we're missing that go beyond reaction pathways. Not many people are working on that problem. It's extremely risky for both PIs and students, and almost impossible to fund.