title: Materials for the onset. A story of necessity and chance.
abstract: We review the reactions that take place in the HCN/NH2COH/catalysts system. In a vision of origin-of-life as emergence of new properties in complexity, the effectiveness of HCN/NH2COH chemistry is so robust and variegate to look unreasonable. In a logic close to Occamian simplicity, this chemistry embodies necessity. The evolution of the necessary fruits of this chemistry towards organismic level entails Darwinism. The role of chance enters into the process as an answer to evolving environments.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agrobiologia ed Agrochimica, Universita della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saladino
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Botta
authors.forename: Samanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pino
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Costanzo
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Mauro
mesh_terms: D008962:Models, Theoretical; D000069497:Origin of Life; D011336:Probability