Self-sustained Replication of an RNA Enzyme

For those interested, you can read the peer reviewed paper (author's manuscript) here: Link

You destroyed your own argument when you stated:"Now, maybe if the experiment had started with amino acids, and ended with RNA, you might have something..."The whole point is that you may not need amino acids at all. RNA is capable of dual roles as both a genetic molecule (like DNA) and as an enzyme (like proteins). If you understood this then you wouldn't have put forth the above requirements.

How chemistry can span the gap between non-replicating molecules and replicating molecules that give rise to life. If non-life is "black" and life is "white" then abiogenesis is the gray in between. So you are saying that a self replicating RNA molecule has nothing to do with abiogenesis? Really? Perhaps you should think about that one again. Not only that, but these replicators are competing for limited resources, a necessity for evolution. Here is a quote from the abstract, in case you missed it:

quote:

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An RNA enzyme that catalyzes the RNA-templated joining of RNA was converted to a format whereby two enzymes catalyze each other's synthesis from a total of four oligonucleotide substrates. These cross-replicating RNA enzymes undergo self-sustained exponential amplification in the absence of proteins or other biological materials.

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These are replicating RNA enzymes. Replication is a hallmark of life.If I start an experiment with one bacterium and come back the next day to find billions of bacteria would you claim that this is not an example of life since I just ended up with more of what I started with? Ending up with more of what you started with is exactly what life does. You might want to think about that for a second.Edited by Taq, : No reason given.