Primates are naturally curious, and this curiosity is most highly developed in Homo sapiens.

The question "Where did we come from?" has been one of the most compelling quandaries for as long as man has been able to frame enquiries. In one guise or another, this question has been at the root of most religions.

As long as animals and the rest of Earth's creatures were considered only automata, as Descartes characterized them, or as subordinate creatures placed here for our express benefit, the question of origins was narrowly confined to man.

But as we gradually come to understand our fellow creatures and to realize our biological kinship, the question has broadened to the more comprehensive one:"Where did life come from?"

Two possibilities exist, special creation or spontaneous generation.

Special creation has long been the purview of theologians. For many centuries, the rational view was considered to be that of spontaneous generation