origin of life

bill bryson quotes matt ridley in his explanation of the origin of life, 'wherever you go in the world, whatever animal, plant, bug or blob you look at, if it is alive, it will use the same dictionary and know the same code. all life is one'. matt and bill are of course referring to the magical phenomena of genetic transfer which they seem to believe originated in one cell, not one god - sounds like an inaudible melody to me. - charlie