611641 external_news 1537355591 1537355658 Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology may have made headway in helping determine the origin of life by identifying three different molecules that self-assemble to form a molecular structure with features characteristic of modern RNA. In the new study, researchers led by Nicholas Hud studied reactions in conditions that mimicked rain and evaporation cycles on the early Earth. They identified three candidates for the bases of proto-RNA: barbituric acid,melamine, and 2, 4, 6-triaminopyrimidine. Reactions with these molecules and the ribose sugar produced nucleosides, which are composite molecules that are close to the sub-units of RNA. Hud is a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the director of the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, based in Georgia Tech.

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