Organic chemistry is the branch of chemistry that studies carbon-based molecules, including their structures, properties, reactions, and synthesis. Many compounds involved in living systems are organic, but the field also covers molecules that are not produced by life.
In origin-of-life research, organic chemistry helps scientists identify compounds in materials such as comets and assess how they form, change, and survive under different conditions. Finding organic molecules does not by itself show that they led to life: researchers must establish whether the compounds could reach early Earth and participate in a plausible sequence of reactions. In cybersecurity, the term is scientific rather than a security technique.