Were hot, humid summers the key to life's origins?

Uncovering how the first biological molecules (like proteins and DNA) arose is a major goal for researchers attempting to solve the origin of life. Today, chemists at Saint Louis University, in collaboration with scientists at the College of Charleston and the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, published a study in the journal Nature Communications that suggests deliquescent minerals—which dissolve in water they absorb from humid air—can assist the construction of proteins from simpler building blocks during cycles timed to mimic day and night on the early Earth.