Several classes of biological reactions that are mediated by an enzyme-cofactor tandem can also occur without the enzyme and even without the cofactor under catalysis by metal ions – albeit significantly slower [1]. These observations support the idea that precursors to some core metabolic pathways emerged under inorganic catalysis and were later refined by organocatalysis from cofactors and,...
All evolutionary biological processes lead to a change in heritable traits over successive generations. The responsible genetic information encoded in DNA is altered, selected, and inherited by mutation of the base sequence.
While this is well known at the biological level, an evolutionary change at the molecular level of small organic molecules is unknown but represents an important...
