The presence of small molecule collectively autocatalytic sets in all 6700 prokaryotes strongly suggests that the first chemical systems capable of self-reproduction in the universe were precisely such sets. We show below that the emergence of such sets is expected.
You are a Kantian Whole. You exist by means of your parts—heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, brain. Your parts exist by means of you, the whole. You reproduce, and your children inherit your parts.