The more conventional explanation for pitting corrosion is that it is an autocatalytic process.
2.
In this clock the induction period is the time it takes for autocatalytic process to start after which the concentration of free iodine falls rapidly as observed by UV / VIS spectroscopy.
3.
If one of these autocatalytic processes started to generate the class of fatty chemicals known as lipids, these might form a bubble around the system, and the first cell would be generated.