Commenting on the research, group leader Irep Gözen says: 

"Our paper presents experimental evidence that nucleation and growth of primitive cells from nanotube networks are remarkably enhanced at temperatures between 40 and 70 °C, and their fusion can be initiated at ~90 °C. We also show that the microcontainers formed in this manner encapsulate and redistribute RNA, and we corroborate that lipid nanotube-interconnected neighboring vesicles join and fuse more rapidly than in bulk suspensions.

"The temperatures in Darwin's ‘little warm ponds’ vary between 50 to 80°C, and in the recently discovered Lost City type hydrothermal vents, which are presumed relevant to the early Earth, from 40 to 90°C. Surprisingly, this is the exact temperature range of our experiments, which promotes protocell formation, growth and fusion."

Read the paper in full: Rapid Growth and Fusion of Protocells in Surface‐Adhered Membrane Networks, Köksal, Elif S.; Liese, Susanne; Xue, Lin; Ryskulov, Ruslan; Viitala, Lauri; Carlson, Andreas;  Gözen, Irep. Small (2020).