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On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative

Darwin's assertion that “it is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life” is no longer valid. By synthesizing origin of life (OoL) research from its inception to recent findings, with a focus on (i) proof-of-principle prebiotically plausible syntheses and (ii) molecular relics of the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Fine, Jacob L., Pearlman, Ronald E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10351881/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37142437
http://dx.doi.org/10.1261/rna.079598.123
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author Fine, Jacob L.
Pearlman, Ronald E.
author_facet Fine, Jacob L.
Pearlman, Ronald E.
author_sort Fine, Jacob L.
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description Darwin's assertion that “it is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life” is no longer valid. By synthesizing origin of life (OoL) research from its inception to recent findings, with a focus on (i) proof-of-principle prebiotically plausible syntheses and (ii) molecular relics of the ancient RNA World, we present a comprehensive up-to-date description of science's understanding of the OoL and the RNA World hypothesis. Based on these observations, we solidify the consensus that RNA evolved before coded proteins and DNA genomes, such that the biosphere began with an RNA core where much of the translation apparatus and related RNA architecture arose before RNA transcription and DNA replication. This supports the conclusion that the OoL was a gradual process of chemical evolution involving a series of transitional forms between prebiotic chemistry and the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) during which RNA played a central role, and that many of the events and their relative order of occurrence along this pathway are known. The integrative nature of this synthesis also extends previous descriptions and concepts and should help inform future questions and experiments about the ancient RNA World and the OoL.
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spelling pubmed-103518812023-08-01 On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative Fine, Jacob L. Pearlman, Ronald E. RNA Review Darwin's assertion that “it is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life” is no longer valid. By synthesizing origin of life (OoL) research from its inception to recent findings, with a focus on (i) proof-of-principle prebiotically plausible syntheses and (ii) molecular relics of the ancient RNA World, we present a comprehensive up-to-date description of science's understanding of the OoL and the RNA World hypothesis. Based on these observations, we solidify the consensus that RNA evolved before coded proteins and DNA genomes, such that the biosphere began with an RNA core where much of the translation apparatus and related RNA architecture arose before RNA transcription and DNA replication. This supports the conclusion that the OoL was a gradual process of chemical evolution involving a series of transitional forms between prebiotic chemistry and the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) during which RNA played a central role, and that many of the events and their relative order of occurrence along this pathway are known. The integrative nature of this synthesis also extends previous descriptions and concepts and should help inform future questions and experiments about the ancient RNA World and the OoL. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 2023-08 /pmc/articles/PMC10351881/ /pubmed/37142437 http://dx.doi.org/10.1261/rna.079598.123 Text en © 2023 Fine and Pearlman; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press for the RNA Society https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This article, published in RNA, is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International), as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Review
Fine, Jacob L.
Pearlman, Ronald E.
On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
title On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
title_full On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
title_fullStr On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
title_full_unstemmed On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
title_short On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
title_sort on the origin of life: an rna-focused synthesis and narrative
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10351881/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37142437
http://dx.doi.org/10.1261/rna.079598.123
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