A hypothesis is only as good as the experiments it allows, and Prof. Yongdong Jin’s new one leaves plenty to do. Jin, of the School of Biomedical Engineering at Shenzhen University in China, proposes in a review that tiny mineral particles with enzyme-like behavior, which he calls nanozymes, helped nonliving chemistry cross over into living systems.
The work was published in the journal Research (2025; 8). Its title: “On the Origin of Life on Earth: The Nanozymes Hypothesis, and More.”
The problem it addresses
Nobody has a settled account of how early Earth went from prehistoric inert gases to anything living. The sequence of events cannot be watched directly, and it is extremely difficult to recreate in a lab. Ideas have piled up over the past century. Metabolism-first, Zinc world, Thioester world, RNA world and Lipid world are among the best known, and each carries limits. None integrates every aspect of the process.
Rather than centering the story on a single molecule such as RNA, Jin points to minerals.
What the nanozymes did
In his framework, naturally occurring mineral nanoparticles served as primitive catalysts. They helped turn simple gases into more complex molecules through what he describes as “inorganic photosynthesis.”
The role goes beyond speeding reactions up. According to Jin, the particles may have gathered chemicals on their surfaces, shielded fragile molecules from ultraviolet radiation, influenced which compounds stayed stable, and managed energy arriving as sunlight, heat and electricity.
Volcanoes and hot springs matter to the picture. Pressure and temperature gradients near them could have driven the lava and hydrothermal reactions that produced the first nanoparticles of metals, metal oxides and sulfides. Laboratories today make artificial nanozymes in comparable ways.
Jin also notes that such particles are abundant and still move through oceans, soils, air and water. Some already show enzyme-like activity, so the idea rests on a measurable property of minerals.
The gold twist
The most eye-catching element is the “Au world.” Jin argues that gold nanoparticles protected by a monolayer of simple organic molecules could have been especially effective nanozymes. They would have needed thiols and amines first, since free gold particles generally require organic coatings to stay stable. Other mineral nanozymes could have supplied those molecules.
The paper lists four conditions that may have helped early life-related molecules persist: wet-dry cycling, self-assembly, catalytic activity, and stabilization through pairing or symbiosis.
Next steps
Testing comes next. Researchers can check whether specific mineral nanoparticles really perform the range of jobs Jin describes under realistic early-Earth conditions, and they can put the Au world concept to the same trial. The review also covers molecular cooperation and co-evolution in life’s earliest stages.
The mystery stands unsolved. Whether the idea holds up will depend on what those experiments show.
Sources
- Scientists propose a radical new theory for how life began on Earth
- New 'nanozymes' hypothesis suggests minerals may have helped spark the origin of life on Earth
