Living cells require a membrane that separates the contents of the cell (proteins, RNA, etc.) from the environment. It is thought that membranes could have spontaneously assembled from simple, polar fatty acids. However, fatty acid membranes would have been unstable in the environmental conditions that were likely present on the early Earth during the time of life’s origins.

The new research shows that prebiotic amino acids could have played a key role in stabilizing fatty-acid structures in the presence of salt and magnesium ions. Under the microscope, researchers observed that mixtures of amino acids and fatty acids were able to hold a spherical shape even when salt was present.

Click here to read the article from The Atlantic.