Big News in Origins of Life Research

Today's New York Times reports significant new progress in origins of life research: Chemist Shows How RNA Can Be the Starting Point for LifeAs has been pointed out many times here at EvC Forum, life is not thought to have originated with some unlikely lucky accident. The process is thought to have been slow, gradual and inevitable, requiring only fairly mundane chemical reactions.Now a British chemist has identified a way that half the nucleotides of RNA, the two most difficult ones as it happens, can be created by a simple chemical process. Instead of beginning with a sugar and a base they began with a compound that is half-sugar and half-base. When a different half-sugar/half-base compound is added the RNA nucleotide ribocytidine phosphate forms. Add ultraviolet light and another RNA nucleotide forms. Future research will focus on finding a process by which the other two RNA nucleotides can form, on working out the process of membrane formation, and on the reason for "handedness" (all existing life uses only left-handed amino acids, we don't know why right-handed are never used).--Percy

This sure beats the peanut butter jar experiment.

Email me if you need a pdf of the Nature paper, folks. My addy is in my profile. I'll read it myself when I get home this evening.

I am really jumping for joy about this discovery. This is much further beyond, "terrific."I may take you up on your offer again Coragyps. =)

I saw this comment on the New Scientist website - in response to their article on this paper. I thought it might amuse some of you. Edited by Richard Townsend, : No reason given.

Permit me to reitterate that quote you gave us.All of a sudden inorganic clay started thinking and copulating and became organic chemistry!

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The miracles of voodoo christianity.There, I think that fits a bit more.