From protoplanetary disks to prebiotic amino acids and the origin of the genetic code

Introduction The robust formation of planets as well as abundant sources of water and organic molecules are likely to be important prerequisites for the wide-spread appearance of life in the cosmos. The nebular hypothesis of Kant and Laplace was the first to propose that the formation of planets occurs in gaseous disks around stars. The construction of new infrared and submillimetre observatories over the last decade and a half has resulted in …