{"636416":{"#nid":"636416","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Forget the Chicken or the Egg: It Doesn\u2019t Matter If RNA or Proteins Came First, Rather That They Need Each Other","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story by postdoctoral researcher \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/centerforchemicalevolution.com\/moran-frenkel-pinter\u0022\u003EMoran Frenkel-Pinter\u003C\/a\u003E first appeared on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistrycommunity.nature.com\/users\/423072-moran-frenkel-pinter\/posts\/forget-the-chicken-or-the-egg-it-doesn-t-matter-if-rna-or-proteins-came-first-rather-that-they-need-each-other\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENature Research Chemistry Community\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow did life begin? - is one of the most intriguing questions in all science. How did cooperative, interdependent relationships between nucleic acids and proteins arise? RNA makes protein in the ribosome and protein makes RNA in polymerases. This interdependence of biology leads to apparent paradoxes for the start of life: which came first, nucleic acids or proteins \u0026ndash; the chicken or the egg?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany researchers favor the RNA world hypothesis, in which RNA came first and initially served dual roles as both a genetic polymer and as an enzyme. According to this theory, RNA once self-replicated, but has now lost that function in biological systems. This model is attractive because avoids the extreme improbability of simultaneous independent origins of two different types of polymers. Over time the RNA World incrementally invented the ribosome, giving rise to the current biological system comprised of RNA, DNA, and protein.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn an alternative model, the evolution of nucleic acids and proteins was concerted. Multiple types of polymers were intimately connected from the very beginning (i.e. a Ribonucleoprotein World). In this model, the extreme improbability of simultaneous origins of two different types of polymers is solved by assuming their origins were not independent, but were linked. Our recent publication in \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E provides experimental support for this model. The manuscript describes specific mechanisms of chemical linkage that could have operated during the origins of biopolymers. The results suggest that neither nucleic acids nor proteins came first, but rather that RNA and proteins were selected together through a process of co-evolution. Mutualistic relationships between molecules were important from the very beginnings of biology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOur study was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA under the auspices of the Center for Chemical Evolution (CCE). In the CCE, we study how prebiotic molecules could have formed and functioned in the era preceding life on Earth. We might never know exactly how chemical evolution led to emergence of complex living systems, but as chemists we can explore the underlying principles that likely governed the era of chemical evolution. We investigate functional polymers and molecular interactions that might have existed on the Hadean Earth about 4 billion years ago. In an unbounded and agnostic approach, we look for plausible prebiotic proto-polymers that could have been ancestors to today\u0026rsquo;s biopolymers, harboring more primitive structures and functions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERead more of this story on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistrycommunity.nature.com\/users\/423072-moran-frenkel-pinter\/posts\/forget-the-chicken-or-the-egg-it-doesn-t-matter-if-rna-or-proteins-came-first-rather-that-they-need-each-other\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENature Research Chemistry Community\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn interdependence of biology leads to apparent paradoxes for the start of life: which came first, nucleic acids or proteins \u0026ndash; the chicken or the egg? Moran Frenkel-Pinter shares exciting findings from a new study with the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistrycommunity.nature.com\/users\/423072-moran-frenkel-pinter\/posts\/forget-the-chicken-or-the-egg-it-doesn-t-matter-if-rna-or-proteins-came-first-rather-that-they-need-each-other\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENature Research Chemistry Community\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An interdependence of biology leads to apparent paradoxes for the start of life: which came first, nucleic acids or proteins \u2013 the chicken or the egg?"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2020-06-23 01:53:08","changed_gmt":"2020-06-23 02:03:00","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-06-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-06-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"636415":{"id":"636415","type":"image","title":"Schematic illustration of molecular cooperation between proto-peptides and RNA that could have fostered their co-evolution.","body":null,"created":"1592877135","gmt_created":"2020-06-23 01:52:15","changed":"1592877574","gmt_changed":"2020-06-23 01:59:34","alt":"","file":{"fid":"242154","name":"V6PCOeTYSJGqkZurTENz_TOC_MFP_200617-01.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/V6PCOeTYSJGqkZurTENz_TOC_MFP_200617-01.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/V6PCOeTYSJGqkZurTENz_TOC_MFP_200617-01.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":279920,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/V6PCOeTYSJGqkZurTENz_TOC_MFP_200617-01.jpg?itok=jZfmSmPu"}}},"media_ids":["636415"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/the-first-gene-on-earth-may-have-been-a-hybrid\/","title":"The First Gene on Earth May Have Been a Hybrid"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/article\/moran-frenkel-pinter","title":"Moran Frenkel-Pinter: Delving into the Precursors of Life\u2019s Biopolymers"},{"url":"https:\/\/centerforchemicalevolution.com\/","title":"Center for Chemical Evolution"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/stripping-linchpins-life-making-machine-reaffirms-its-seminal-evolution","title":"Stripping the Linchpins From the Life-Making Machine Reaffirms Its Seminal Evolution"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/helix-dna-fame-may-have-arisen-startling-ease","title":"The Helix, of DNA Fame, May Have Arisen with Startling Ease"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/asteroid-time-capsules-may-help-explain-how-life-started-earth","title":"Asteroid \u201cTime Capsules\u201d May Help Explain How Life Started on Earth"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/harnessing-power-evolution","title":"Harnessing the Power of Evolution"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/silica-may-have-helped-form-protein-precursors-prebiotic-earth","title":"Silica May Have Helped Form Protein Precursors in Prebiotic Earth"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/research-horizons-video-2-nicholas-hud","title":"Research Horizons: How did life emerge from a soup of simple molecules?"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"136661","name":"origins of life"},{"id":"984","name":"RNA"},{"id":"89","name":"chemistry"},{"id":"919","name":"Biochemistry"},{"id":"4216","name":"polymers"},{"id":"106651","name":"molecular interactions"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"3028","name":"evolution"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}