This is one piece of evidence of co-evolution of cells and viruses, that communities of reproducing molecules actually pre-date cells.<p>here's an HN friendly paper discussing the origin of life via information theory:<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.03.009" rel="nofollow">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.03.009</a>.<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519319301109" rel="nofollow">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002251931...</a><p>this paper is the cite for this section of the wikipedia article:<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_evolution" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_evolution</a><p><i>At the beginning of life, a community of early replicons (pieces of genetic information capable of self-replication) existed in proximity to a food source such as a hot spring or hydrothermal vent. This food source also produced lipid-like molecules self-assembling into vesicles that could enclose replicons. Close to the food source replicons thrived, but further away the only non-diluted resources would be inside vesicles. Therefore, evolutionary pressure could push replicons along two paths of development: merging with a vesicle, giving rise to cells; and entering the vesicle, using its resources, multiplying and leaving for another vesicle, giving rise to viruses.</i>