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Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Generation of RNA/DNA Hybrids in Genomic DNA by Transformation using RNA-containing Oligonucleotides
Published on: November 24, 2010
Catalytic RNA and the origin of genetic systems
1European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, FRG.
Abstract:
The recent discovery of catalytic RNA molecules has provoked enormous interest in the origin of life and has given rise to new speculations about how living systems developed on the primitive earth. Here we outline why the discovery of catalytic RNA molecules has profound evolutionary implications, and then go on to discuss models for the emergence of metabolic complexity and protein synthesis in a primitive 'RNA world', emphasizing the constraints imposed on such models by genetical arguments.
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