A review discusses prebiotic metabolism , following the emergence of nucleotides, with polyphosphates as energy store, nucleic acids begin as the substrates of metabolic reactions, before the emergence of nucleic acids as templates for the transfer of information, with the translation process at its core.It also discusses various scenarios to explain the origin of primary components (elementary biobricks), particularly basic amino acids, nucleotides, coenzymes, and lipids, which are required to allow the building up of compartmentalized cells.Subsequently, a scenario is proposed where populations of protocells displaying a general propensity to behave as phagocytes will evolve into the three domains of life as it is known today, namely Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea.