Abiogenesis is the scientific hypothesis that life on Earth may have originated from non-living matter.
The concept of abiogenesis suggests that the first living organisms arose when simple molecules, including water, combined to form simple organic compounds, such as amino acids, through a gradual process of increasing complexity. There are different ideas about what environments may have supported this process. One theory is that it occurred in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Another is that it may have occurred in icy or frozen regions of early Earth. The word abiogenesis is built from Greek roots: a-, meaning "not," bio-, meaning "life," and genesis, meaning "origin."