  The famous Miller-Urey experiment, which provides essential information on
the prebiotic synthesis of the molecules of life, still has many obscure
points. In this paper, we want to suggest a way of possible future progress,
which consists in framing the experience of Miller and Urey in the context of
the kinetics of ionized gas, or plasma. In this framework, extremely effective
and versatile theoretical tools, based on quantum mechanics and chemical
kinetics, make it possible to look, in a new way, at the elementary processes
that lead to the formation of excited species and ions, at the base of the
cascade of subsequent reactions.
