Chemical properties driving the pre-genomic emergence of LUCA

Identify the chemically derived properties that drove the emergence of the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) via evolutionary processes that predate the genome.

Background

The paper argues that distinctions between "metabolism" and "genetics" may be late innovations and that earlier, pre-genomic evolutionary processes structured molecular networks. Within this context, the authors highlight unresolved questions about which chemical properties guided the emergence of LUCA.

Addressing this will clarify which universal chemical features—potentially including chirality and network-level selection—were pivotal in the transition from geochemistry to LUCA.