Prebiotic Gels: New Theory Suggests Life Originated in Sticky ‘Cradles’ on Early Earth
A groundbreaking new study proposes that life may have first emerged within surface-attached gels on early Earth, offering a novel perspective on the long-standing question of life’s origins. Published online November 19, 2025, in the journal ChemSystemsChem, the research also expands the search for extraterrestrial life, suggesting the potential for “xeno-films”—alien biofilm-like structures—on other planets.
The enduring mystery of how life began has captivated scientists for centuries. While pinpointing the exact moment remains impossible, researchers continue to develop plausible scenarios based on chemistry, physics, and geology. A team led by Professor Tony Jia at Hiroshima University is now adding a new piece to the puzzle, shifting focus from biomolecules to the crucial role of gels in the prebiotic world.
The researchers outline a “prebiotic gel-first” framework, positing that life’s building blocks could have originated within these sticky, semi-solid matrices. These primitive gels share striking similarities with modern microbial biofilms – thin layers of bacteria commonly found on rocks, pond surfaces, and even man-made objects.
“While many theories focus on the function of biomolecules and biopolymers, our theory instead incorporates the role of gels at the origins of life,” one of the study’s authors explained.
Drawing from soft-matter chemistry and modern biological insights, the team argues that these gels provided the necessary structure and function for early chemical systems to evolve. By trapping and organizing molecules, prebiotic gels could have overcome significant hurdles in pre-life chemistry, facilitating molecular concentration, selective retention, and environmental buffering.
Within these gel environments, early chemical systems may have developed rudimentary metabolic and self-replicating behaviors, ultimately paving the way for biological evolution. This process could have occurred long before the formation of the first cells.
“This is just one theory among many in the vast landscape of origin-of-life research,” noted Dr. Kuhan Chandru, a researcher with the Space Science Center at the National University of Malaysia. “However, since the role of gels has been largely overlooked, we wanted to synthesize scattered studies into a cohesive narrative that puts primitive gels at the forefront of the discussion.”
The implications of this research extend beyond Earth. The scientists suggest that similar gel-like systems could exist on other planets, potentially harboring life forms based on different chemical building blocks. These hypothetical ‘xeno-films’ could serve as non-terrestrial analogs of biofilms, uniquely adapted to the conditions of their respective environments.
This perspective fundamentally alters how astrobiologists approach the search for life beyond Earth. Rather than solely focusing on identifying specific chemicals, the research suggests that identifying structures – like these potential xeno-films – could be the next crucial step in life detection missions. A visual representation of the potential chemical composition of xeno-films on different planets would be a valuable addition to this research.
The team is now planning experimental investigations to test their model, exploring how gels composed of simple chemicals might have formed under early Earth conditions and the properties they could have imparted to emerging chemical systems.
“We also hope that our work inspires others in the field to further explore this and other underexplored origins-of-life theories,” said Dr. Ramona Khanum, also from the Space Science Center at the National University of Malaysia.
The research, detailed in the paper “Prebiotic Gels as the Cradle of Life” (Ramona Khanum et al., ChemSystemsChem, published online November 19, 2025; doi: 10.1002/syst.202500038), offers a compelling new avenue for understanding the origins of life and the potential for life beyond our planet.
