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...
The single chirality of the amino acids and sugars that make up the building blocks
of life has fascinated scientists and laymen alike since Pasteur’s first painstaking
separation of the enantiomorphic crystals of a tartrate salt over 150 years ago.
Autocatalytic self-replication has been highlighted as a potential route to
rationalize how one enantiomer might have come to dominate over...
