It’s not known how life’s essential properties of replication, metabolism and compartmentalization were first integrated. Two recent articles now shed light on how metabolic characteristics may be incorporated into replicating systems, harnessing an external energy source to increase their rate of replication and acquiring catalytic activity.
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Solís-Muñana, P., Chen, J.L.Y. Combining catalysis and replication. Nat. Chem. 12, 585–587 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-0500-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-020-0500-x
