Speaker
Description
The RNA World hypothesis of how life may have emerged on the early Earth relies on a dual role for RNA: propagating (proto)genetic information, and carrying out functions in the form of ribozymes. Such an RNA-based genotype-phenotype system could not have emerged spontaneously, and would have required a mechanism for RNA replication before the emergence of any enzymatic activities. This lecture will present recent results that show how the nonenzymatic copying of random templates—an essential requirement for any emergent replication process—may have appeared. These experiments use next-generation sequencing to probe the copying reaction at the highest level of detail, and incorporate prebiotically plausible nucleotide activation chemistry and realistic mixtures of heterogeneous reactants. We will also consider the implications of these results for the development of more complex model experiments for RNA replication.