All modern life uses energy to reproduce itself. During this process, organisms build and break down larger molecules such as fats and sugars using a remarkably common set of reactive intermediate energy carrier molecules. These intermediate energy carriers (for example, ATP) are often not building blocks in and of themselves, but they allow the energy coupling between separate reactions needed to push forward cellular reproduction.
source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-complex-metabolism-self-assembled-simple-precursors.html
