New insight into the possible origins of life

The University of Tokyo has for the first time been able to create a molecule that replicates, diversifies and develops complexity after Darwinian evolution. The first empirical evidence shows that simple biological molecules can lead to the emergence of complex lifelike systems.

Where did we come from is a big question in life. Maybe you have seen the T-shirts with pictures of ape and human. From simple molecule to complex cell to ape? For several decades, one hypothesis has been that there were RNA molecule on primitive Earth. Around 4 billion years ago, they started to self-replicate and develop from a single molecule into many different types of molecule. This step-by-step change may have led to the emergence of life as we know it, a beautiful array of animals, plants, and everything in between.

It has been difficult to create such systems. In a study published in Nature Communications, Professor Norikazu Ichihashi and his team explain how they carried out a long-term RNA replication experiment in which they witnessed.

The team was very excited by what it saw.

This new result is novel because the team used a unique RNA replication system that can undergo Darwinian evolution, which enabled different characteristics to emerge.

We initially doubted that such diverseRNAs could evolve and coexist. The molecule has to establish a way to use different resources. We wondered if it was possible for nonliving chemical species to spontaneously develop innovation.

What should we do next? The simplicity of our system allows us to look at evolutionary phenomena with unprecedented resolution. Our experiment shows the evolution of complexity. There should be more events towards the emergence of living systems.

There are still many questions left to answer, but this research has provided further insight into a possible evolutionary route that an early RNA replicator may have taken on primitive Earth. The results could be a clue to the ultimate question that human beings have been asking for thousands of years.

The transition from a single RNA replicator to a multiple replicator network is published in Nature Communications.

More information: Ryo Mizuuchi et al, Evolutionary transition from a single RNA replicator to a multiple replicator network, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29113-x Journal information: Nature Communications Citation: New insight into the possible origins of life (2022, March 18) retrieved 18 March 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-03-insight-life.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.