Prebiotic chemistry proceeded in very different environments such as planetary atmospheres, submarine hydrothermal vents, active volcanic islands, planetary surfaces exposed to UV radiation, meteorite parent bodies, and interstellar clouds. Through several yet unknown steps the first „living“ systems and eventually life as we know it evolved. Thus, there is a close connection between chemical and biological (Darwinian) evolution, with the latter having emerged from the former. It is known that the phylogenetic development of the early organisms was slow compared to later, post-Archean times but our knowledge of the details is still fragmentary. Research is complicated by the fact that Archean fossils and traces of the environmental impact of early life are scarce and often not well preserved.
Contributions presenting new results from the following fields are welcome:
- experimental and theoretical prebiotic chemistry and studies on chemical evolution,
- Earth’s early fossil record,
- the environment on early Earth and Mars and analysis of geological samples relevant to early life,
- the possible existence of primitive life forms on other planets and moons,
- microorganisms under extreme field and laboratory conditions (including space experiments).