Four billion years ago, the Earth looked very different than it does today, devoid of life and covered by a vast ocean. Over the course of millions of years, in that primordial soup, life emerged.

The reaction generates amino acids and nucleic acids, the building blocks of proteins and DNA. Four billion years ago, the Earth looked very different than it does today, devoid of life and covered by ...

While humans have an esthetic liking for symmetry in everything, nature prefers asymmetric, single-handed forms when it comes to amino acids—the building blocks of proteins, and, by extension, all ...