Phosphorus for Earth’s earliest life may have been forged by lightning
Long thought to have been delivered by meteorites, the element is crucial for DNA and RNA
![illustration of lightning striking early Earth](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/031521_mt_lightning-phosphorus_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Phosphorus, a crucial ingredient for the first life on Earth, may have been forged by lightning (illustrated).
Lucy Entwisle