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Molecular evolution

Booting up life

A key question about evolution is how the first informational molecules — thought to be an early form of life — could generate efficient self-replication machinery. The problem is tackled in new computer simulations.

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Figure 1: Genome evolution in a computer.

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Correspondence to Gerald F. Joyce.

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Joyce, G. Booting up life. Nature 420, 278–279 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/420278a

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