Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Conducting Miller-Urey Experiments
Published on: January 21, 2014
The possible roles of water in the prebiotic chemical evolution of DNA
1Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China. cuishuxun@swjtu.edu.cn
Abstract:
There is no doubt that water is pivotal to life. Yet, as the emergence of life is still a big challenge in science, the detailed involvement of water in that process is not well recognized. Following the clues provided by recent single-molecule studies on DNA, we attempt to elucidate the possible roles of water in the prebiotic chemical evolution. Water has long been recognized as an important reactant in the Miller-Urey experiment and then as the only solvent of the primitive soup. Besides that, water also played a vital role in the prebiotic chemical evolution: water is the important criterion in the combinatorial library screening for self-assembling macromolecules. With this notion, the uniformity of biochemistry for all terrestrial life may be explained. A possible roadmap from the inorganic world to the origin of life is also discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth
Origin of Cellular Life
DNA as a Genetic Template
DNA as a Genetic Template
Role of Water in Human Biology
Water's Solvent Properties
Since water is a polar molecule with slightly positive and slightly negative charges, ions and polar molecules can readily dissolve in it. Therefore, it is referred to as a solvent, a...

