Since the prehistoric times, people have pondered how life came to exist. This question continues to engage scientists from diverse fields, including biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and astronomy. The analysis of plausible routes that led to the origin of life on Earth naturally confers broad implications to our understanding of whether this was a singular event of low probability to repeat itself, and if (and where) new forms of life might be found. Numerous long-standing questions in research of origins of life center on the history of extant biopolymers. In my lab we address the question of how nature selected the polypeptide backbone and proteinogenic side chains. We study how chemistry led to complex life and aim to bridge the gap between today’s biochemistry and the chemical principles that led to emergence of life on Earth during the era of chemical evolution about four billion years ago.