At the point where DNA is involved, we can say that life exists. Life probably began as microbial ancestral forms from chemical ingredients derived from meteorites, in a watery environment shielded from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Every piece of matter from which life is to spring was derived ultimately from the solar nebula. In this sense, Man, in the form of Adam, was indeed created from the dust of the Earth. These autotrophic organisms assimilated certain constituents and gave off others.
Photosynthesis is an excellent example.
Life therefore started to impose itself on Earth, changing the oceans, the atmosphere and consequently the sediments that record their existence. Earth would not be the same again. After a week, four amino acids common to protein had been synthesized. Later experiments have confirmed the importance of the presence of methane and ammonia and have varied the energy source to include ultraviolet light and other high energy radiation analogous to solar radiation. Some experimenters, such as Sidney Fox at the University of Florida, believed the amino acids needed to be greatly concentrated in water in a kind of primaeval soup, then dried.