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A possible path towards encoded protein synthesis on ancient Earth

How did the biological machinery for protein synthesis evolve from simple chemicals on ancient Earth? Experiments suggest an intriguing role for modified RNA nucleotides in directing stepwise peptide synthesis.
  1. Claudia Bonfio

    1. Claudia Bonfio is in the Laboratory of Supramolecular Biochemistry, Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering, 67000 Strasbourg, France.

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DNA and RNA serve as the primary information carriers that make up the genetic material of living cells — which puts nucleic acids such as these at the heart of most theories of the origins of life. In particular, the ‘RNA world’ hypothesis posits that self-replicating RNA molecules acted both as information carriers and as catalysts for biochemical processes before DNA and proteins evolved. However, this hypothesis does not explain why, how and when proteins replaced RNA to become the largest and most diverse class of catalyst in modern cells. In a paper in Nature, Müller et al.1 report findings that suggest how RNA could have directed the emergence of proteins on early Earth.

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Nature 605, 231-232 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01256-3

References

  1. Müller, F. et al. Nature 605, 279–284 (2022).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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