"Life is usefully defined on the basis of process: any set of entities that participates in the process of evolution by natural selection is alive. But how does evolution by natural selection – and thus life – get started? The answer is far from obvious. Lack of insight haunts origins of life research and plagues understanding of the major evolutionary transitions, including the transition from cells to multicellular life.

In a new paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, a team led by Paul Rainey at ESPCI Paris- PSL University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology provides a solution. Adopting a theoretical approach inspired from earlier and on-going experiments, Rainey and his team show how ecological circumstances can kick-start life, both from the get-go, and also at each of the major evolutionary transitions."

Read more about Dr Pierrick Bourrat's work on the origins of life here