# Making matter come alive

- Institution: TED
- Department: TEDGlobal 2011
- Speaker: Lee Cronin
- Year: 2011
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Biology
- Source: [TED](https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_cronin_making_matter_come_alive)
- Licence: [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) (Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions.)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Before life existed on Earth, there was just matter, inorganic dead "stuff." How improbable is it that life arose? And -- could it use a different type of chemistry? Using an elegant definition of life (anything that can evolve), chemist Lee Cronin is exploring this question by attempting to create a fully inorganic cell using a "Lego kit" of inorganic molecules -- no carbon -- that can assemble, replicate and compete.

## Lectures

1. [Making matter come alive](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/ted/lee_cronin_making_matter_come_alive/894db4d05949), 15 min (TED's player)