Artificial Cell-Like Structures Mimic Self-Reproduction and Release Polymeric Spores

Artificial cell-like structures mimic self-reproduction and release polymeric spores

Life on Earth possesses an exceptional ability to self-reproduce, which, even on a simple cellular level, is driven by complex biochemistry. But can self-reproduction exist in a biochemistry-free environment?

Trinucleotide substrates under pH–freeze–thaw cycles enable open-ended exponential RNA replication by a polymerase ribozyme

RNA replication is considered a key process in the origins of life. However, both enzymatic and non-enzymatic RNA replication cycles are impeded by the ‘strand separation problem’, a form of product inhibition arising from the extraordinary stability of RNA duplexes and their rapid reannealing kinetics. Here we show that RNA trinucleotide triphosphates can overcome this problem by binding to and kinetically trapping dissociated RNA strands in a …

Scientists reveal how RNA could have replicated on early earth

Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have demonstrated how RNA (ribonucleic acid) might have replicated itself on early Earth – a key process in the origin of life.

British chemicals have shown how RNA (ribonucleic acid) could have...

Scientists Simulate the First Ever RNA Self-Replication Process

Chemists at University College London (UCL) and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB) have unveiled a groundbreaking mechanism that sheds light on one of the most enduring mysteries in science: how RNA, the primordial molecule of life, could have replicated itself on early Earth. This replication process is fundamental to the origin of life, setting the stage for the evolution of complex biological systems. The t…