Title: A Study of Fragmentation and Spontaneous Covalent Self-Assembly of the <i>Azaorcus</i> Ribozyme from Multiple Small Inactive RNA Fragments
Abstract:The question about the origins of life often appears as a difficult question to answer. A more reliable candidate molecule for the chemical origins of life would be a molecule that is capable of makin...The question about the origins of life often appears as a difficult question to answer. A more reliable candidate molecule for the chemical origins of life would be a molecule that is capable of making copies of itself from simple precursors. With the finding of the catalytic activities of RNA molecules by Thomas Cech and Sid Altman in late 1980s, the term ribozyme was introduced to define an RNA molecule with catalytic activity. The RNA World is a conceptual period in the early stages in the development of life because RNA simultaneously possesses evolvability and catalytic function. An RNA molecule that could evolve in such a fashion is likely to have been one of the Earth's first life forms. The most important problem facing the RNA World is the difficulty of prebiotic synthesis of RNA. Different prebiotic environments could provide the right reaction conditions for synthesis of catalytically active RNA molecules. Most importantly, these environments can support new ways to assemble monomers into polymers.Read More