The first living beings, prokaryotes, were endowed with an extremely complex and dynamic individual organization: a compartmentalized metabolism in which diverse molecular components and transformation processes got functionally coupled, including a selectively permeable membrane, a set of energy currencies and a translation apparatus built upon a common genetic code. Each microorganism neatly distinguishes itself from the surrounding medium and is capable of generating and modulating its own rules of behaviour (i.e., it acts on its own behalf) so it can be interpreted as autonomous in a fundamental biological sense. However, the autonomy theoretical framework only covers part of the explanation for the striking complexity observed in minimal lifeforms. In fact, all known living cells depend on other cells for their sustenance, so they engage in diverse ecological relationships without which their survival would not be feasible. Furthermore, all living cells have arisen from pre-existing cells, through reproduction, within a long-term, open-ended evolutionary process. As we will argue below, the constitution of any biological domain requires a strong –though deeply asymmetric– causal interweaving between individual (metabolic-physiological) and collective (ecological and evolutionary) dynamics, covering different spatial and temporal scales that unfold in the course of abiogenesis.