Despite best efforts, the origin of life on Earth remains an open mystery. In a recent analysis bridging physics, evolutionary biology and the philosophy of just what life is, Prof Stuart Kauffman suggests autocatalytic sets of energetically favourable molecules making each other, and in turn themselves, as the building blocks of life as we know it.

His interview touches on the limits of Newtonian and quantum physics, philosophical definitions of life and self, and the Anthropocene era of resource scarcity on a changing planet.

Find out more about Prof Kauffmans work at the Institute for Systems Biology, and read his recent paper here.