[js1138]

If complete remains of every creature that ever lived were available to the investigators, sequenced serially, then the underlying paradigm could be subjected to rigorous tests on a confidence par with physics.

Or, one could investigate how self replication could arise via chemistry, as more and more researchers are doing. Anything written on the subject that is more than a couple of years old is not authoritative.

[Alamo-Girl]

Or, one could investigate how self replication could arise via chemistry, as more and more researchers are doing. Anything written on the subject that is more than a couple of years old is not authoritative.

Speciation is the issue, not self-replication. And not what could have happened, but what actually did happen.