How did it come about?

All my life I have wondered about the possibility of life elsewhere. What would it be like?Of what would it be made? All living things on our planet are constructed of organic molecules - complex microscopic architectures in which the carbon atom plays a central role. There was once a time before life, when the Earth was barren and utterly desolate. Our world is now overflowing with life. How did it come about? How, in the absence of life,were carbon-based organic molecules made? How did the first living things arise? How did life evolve to produce beings as elaborate and complex as we, able to explore the mystery of our own origins?