An anonymous reader shared this article from The Washington Post.
A much-discussed theory holds that 4 billion years ago, to some extent, long before dinosaurs or even bacteria appeared, a primordial soup contained only the potential for life. Then a molecule called RNA took a dramatic step into the future and created copies of itself. Then copies made copies, and over millions of years, RNA gave rise to DNA and proteins, all of which came together to form cells, the smallest unit of life that can survive on its own.
Now, in a major advance supporting this RNA world theory, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, have implemented a small but important part of the story. They developed RNA molecules that can make exact copies of different types of RNA in test tubes.Works published in magazines Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesbringing us closer to the grand goal of growing RNA molecules that make exact copies of themselves.
“Then it would be alive,” said Gerald Joyce, president of Salk and one of the authors of the new paper. “So this is a path to a way to create life in the laboratory or, in principle, anywhere in the universe…”
John Chaput, a professor of pharmacy at the University of California, Irvine, who was not involved in the study, called the Salk team's crossing that threshold “monumental” and said, “At first, I thought it was a small thing.” I was a little surprised. …It's wonderful, is not it. ”
of post He added: “The scenario they tested probably mimics one of the earliest movements in evolution.” And Michael Kay, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah, said the new paper gave “significant evidence” to the RNA world theory that “it is plausible and reasonable.”
He added that the RNA copy machine developed at Salk “will be a valuable tool for people who want to conduct directed evolution experiments.”