Just a couple of additional thoughts.
The problem with some views of abiogenesis (as discussed, not in terms of scientific publications), is that it is perceived to be basically akin to spontaneous generation, even if labelled correctly. In other words, people perceive abiogenesis to refer to something readily recognisable as a life form springing forth from “nothing”. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of what is being suggested (yet another straw man as it were). For instance, a single modern cell is infinitely too complex to arise from such a process “spontaneously”, as is a virus, as is even a single organelle of a single cell, as is a modern cell membrane. These are the resultant products of billions of years of evolution, not starting points.
When it comes to abiogenesis, although it sounds counterintuitive, i tend not to think of it (at least for most of the process) as speculating about how “life” arose from non-life. It is more akin to the gradual development of chemicals with specific properties, as synthesized by other chemicals, and so on…with this process taking 100s of millions of years, with very gradual associated development of increasingly complex chemical structure via a proto form of natural selection. Where life begins is then a judgement, in effect, drawing a line on a path that extends for a billion years, based on some a priori designiated combination or features that is decided by us to be classified as “life”. These features generally include characteristics such as the most basic forms fo replication and/or metabolism. No movement, no complex organelles, etc..etc..etc..
So life didn’t arise from non-life, it arose from proto-life. And proto-life didn’t arise from non-life,it arose from pre-proto life. And if one can think of this as a billion year journey from chemistry to biology, I think we’re on far sounder footing, and it helps shake off the tendency to think within the mistaken terms of spontaneous generation, even if we dont label it as such.
One scenario discussed here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6QYDdgP9eg