Very many low molecular weight compounds have been produced under alleged prebiotic conditions. Generally, they can be considered products under thermodynamic control (formed by “spontaneous” reactions because they are the most stable products under the given conditions). The “free ticket” of thermodynamic control is however not sufficient: if a chemist is given all these compounds in any amount he wishes, he would be unable to make life. For making life, one needs a series of additional reactions and products under kinetic control - enzymes and nucleic acids are not with us because they are the most stable chains. Thus, the origin of life can be traced back to the origin of kinetic control. Do you agree with this statement; and how would you envisage the prebiotic evolutionary bridge between thermodynamic and kinetic control?

The proteins (or nucleic acids) existing on our Earth correspond to an infinitesimal part of the theoretically possible sequences - the ratio between possible and existing structures corresponds more or less to the ratio between the space of the universe and the space occupied by one hydrogen atom. The above ratio can be interpreted as an indication that our “few” proteins have not been selected primarily because of distinctive properties (such as thermodynamic or thermal stability, solubility, particular kinetic processes of formation etc..) - but rather due to a most significant contribution of the vagaries of contingency. Do you agree with this statement, and with its corollary, that then life on our Earth, which is based on these “few” proteins, is not an obligatory pathway, but is largely based on contingency?