Researchers report the identification of ribozymes--enzymatic RNA molecules--that use substrates activated by the prebiotically plausible 2-aminoimidazole group of molecules, a result showing that nonenzymatic RNA synthesis during the origin of life on Earth may have coexisted with ribozyme-catalyzed RNA copying, according to the authors.
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Article #19-14367: "In vitro selection of ribozyme ligases that use prebiotically plausible 2-aminoimidazole-activated substrates," by Travis Walton, Saurja DasGupta, Daniel Duzdevich, Seung Soo Oh, and Jack W. Szostak.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jack W. Szostak, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; e-mail: < szostak@molbio.mgh.harvard.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences