Volatile elements, like C, H, O, N, and S, are critical to the formation of molecular life on our world and others outside our own solar system. Some of these elements on Earth, e.g. in H2O, appear to have originated as ices in the dense molecular clouds from which stars are born. However, other ices, like CO, may be destroyed during the star and planet formation process. The survival of different simple ices has profound implications for the formation and survival of more complex organic molecules (COMs), which include chemical precursors to bio-molecules that may be important for the formation of life. Complex molecules are abundantly detected in the gas phase of comets, protostars, and molecular clouds, in ratios suggesting a shared origin for these in the densest, coldest molecular clouds from which stars are born. If ices become complex at this stage, then it could jumpstart the formation of life on other planets, as each of the hundreds of star systems that form from these clouds would carry reasonably complex ices in its small rocky bodies, like comets. Several formation pathways for complex ices start in 10 K, CO-rich ices in these cores. However, until recently no COMs more complex than methanol (a simple alcohol) have been detected in astrophysical ices, due to the sensitivity and resolution limitations of previous infrared facilities. The successfully launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized our ability to trace the chemistry of the elemental building blocks of life (CHONS) as they build up to more complex species. Combining these novel astrophysical observations with experimental, ground-based laboratory spectroscopy, along with innovative astrochemical modeling, gives us the ability to address this complicated question for the first time. I will describe how exciting new results from several Cycle 1 JWST programs are beginning to shed light on whether the origins of life could be universal, and what we should look out for in the years to come.