Quoting, "The latest theory is that clay - which is at its most basic, a combination of minerals in the ground - acts as a breeding laboratory for tiny molecules and chemicals which it 'absorbs like a sponge'. The process takes billions of years, during which the chemicals react to each other to form proteins, DNA and, eventually, living cells, scientists told the journal Scientific Reports. ...
'Over billions of years, chemicals confined in those spaces could have carried out the complex reactions that formed proteins, DNA and eventually all the machinery that makes a living cell work.' The conclusions are based on experiments by the researchers using synthetic hydrogels, adding DNA, amino acids and enzymes and simulating the production of proteins."
I fail to see how these statements come close to being scientific. I see they are no more than wild speculation. How can one add DNA, amino acids and enzymes to simulate protein production and then use the results to speculate on the spontaneous origin of those very ingredients used in the experiment? I would like to see evidence for the spontaneous abiotic creation of even a single nucleic acid from the basic building blocks of C, H, O, N and P in a natural environment.