Intramolecular RNA replicase: Possibly the first self-replicating molecule in the RNA world

The RNA world

Gilbert, W. (1986) · Nature · Cited by 1,941 · see citing works

Synthesizing life

Szostak, J. W., Bartel, D. P., & Luisi, P. L. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35053176 · Cited by 1,681 · see citing works

Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world.

Leslie E., O. (2004) · Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1080/10409230490460765 · Cited by 1,124 · see citing works

The antiquity of RNA-based evolution.

Joyce, G. F. (2002) · Nature · doi:10.1038/418214a · Cited by 1,070 · see citing works

Isolation of New Ribozymes from a Large Pool of Random Sequences

Bartel, D. P., & Szostak, J. W. (1993) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.7690155 · Cited by 900 · see citing works

Synthesis of long prebiotic oligomers on mineral surfaces.

Ferris, J. P., Hill, A. R., Liu, R., & Orgel, L. E. (1996) · Nature · doi:10.1038/381059a0 · Cited by 865 · see citing works

RNA-catalyzed RNA polymerization: Accurate and general RNA-templated primer extension.

Johnston, W. K., Unrau, P. J., Lawrence, M. S., Glasner, M. E., & Bartel, D. P. (2001) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1060786 · Cited by 768 · see citing works

Molecular replication

Orgel, L. E. (1992) · Nature · doi:10.1038/358203a0 · Cited by 535 · see citing works

Directed Evolution of Nucleic Acid Enzymes

Joyce, G. F. (2004) · Annual Review of Biochemistry · doi:10.1146/annurev.biochem.73.011303.073717 · Cited by 515 · see citing works

tRNA-like structures tag the 3' ends of genomic RNA molecules for replication: implications for the origin of protein synthesis.

Weiner, A. M., & Maizels, N. (1987) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.84.21.7383 · Cited by 334 · see citing works

A self-replicating ligase ribozyme

Paul, N., & Joyce, G. F. (2002) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.202471099 · Cited by 264 · cited 2× · see citing works

Structure and function of the hairpin ribozyme

Fedor, M. J. (2000) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1006/jmbi.2000.3560 · Cited by 247 · see citing works

1 Prospects for Understanding the Origin of the RNA World

Joyce, G. F., & Orgel, L. E. (1993) · doi:10.1101/087969380.24.1 · Cited by 214 · see citing works

Montmorillonite Catalysis of 30–50 Mer Oligonucleotides: Laboratory Demonstration of Potential Steps in the Origin of the RNA World

Ferris, J. P. (2002) · Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere · doi:10.1023/a:1020543312109 · Cited by 183 · see citing works

The Molecular origins of life: assembling pieces of the puzzle

(1999) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.36-6269 · Cited by 157 · see citing works

In silico simulations reveal that replicators with limited dispersal evolve towards higher efficiency and fidelity

Szabó, P., Scheuring, I., Czárán, T., & Szathmáry, E. (2002) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature01187 · Cited by 153 · see citing works

Semipermeable lipid bilayers exhibit diastereoselectivity favoring ribose

Sacerdote, M. G., & Szostak, J. W. (2005) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0408440102 · Cited by 147 · see citing works

Nonenzymatic, template-directed ligation of oligoribonucleotides is highly regioselective for the formation of 3′-5′ phosphodiester bonds

Rohatgi, R., Bartel, D. P., & Szostak, J. W. (1996) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/ja9537134 · Cited by 134 · see citing works

Cross-catalytic replication of an RNA ligase ribozyme.

Kim, D.-E., & Joyce, G. F. (2004) · Chemistry and Biology · doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2004.08.021 · Cited by 112 · see citing works

A Receptor-Targeted Near-Infrared Fluorescence Probe for In Vivo Tumor Imaging

Tung, C., Lin, Y., Moon, W. K., & Weissleder, R. (2002) · ChemBioChem · doi:10.1002/1439-7633(20020802)3:8 · Cited by 109 · see citing works

A complex ligase ribozyme evolved in vitro from a group I ribozyme domain

Jaeger, L., Wright, M. C., & Joyce, G. F. (1999) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.96.26.14712 · Cited by 102 · see citing works

The endogenous synthesis of organic compounds

Miller, S. L. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511626180.005 · Cited by 87 · see citing works

Montmorillonite, Oligonucleotides, RNA and Origin of Life

Ertem, G. (2004) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1023/b:orig.0000043130.49790.a7 · Cited by 76 · see citing works

In Search of an RNA Replicase Ribozyme

McGinness, K. E., & Joyce, G. F. (2003) · Chemistry & Biology · doi:10.1016/s1074-5521(03)00003-6 · Cited by 74 · see citing works

Nonenzymatic Template-directed Synthesis of RNA from Monomers

Ia, K., & Orgel, L. E. (2000) · Molecular Biology · doi:10.1023/a:1026663422976 · Cited by 66 · see citing works

A surface-mediated origin of the RNA world: biogenic activities of clay-adsorbed RNA molecules

Franchi, M., & Gallori, E. (2005) · Gene · doi:10.1016/j.gene.2004.11.002 · Cited by 63 · see citing works

Spatial Models of Prebiotic Evolution: Soup Before Pizza?

Scheuring, I., Czárán, T., Szabó, P., Károlyi, G., & Toroczkai, Z. (2003) · Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere · doi:10.1023/a:1025742505324 · Cited by 53 · see citing works

RNA-Catalyzed RNA Ligation on an External RNA Template

McGinness, K. E., & Joyce, G. F. (2002) · Chemistry & Biology · doi:10.1016/s1074-5521(02)00110-2 · Cited by 52 · see citing works

The Origin of the RNA World: A Kinetic Model

Wattis, J. A. D., & Coveney, P. V. (1999) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/jp983159v · Cited by 32 · see citing works

Origins of the RNA world

Schwartz, A. W. (1998) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511626180.013 · Cited by 26 · see citing works

Computational studies on conditions of the emergence of autopoietic protocells

Ono, N. (2005) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2005.04.005 · Cited by 10 · see citing works

Modelling molecular stability in the RNA world

Taylor, W. R. (2005) · Computational Biology and Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2005.04.009 · Cited by 8 · see citing works

A Model for the Early Evolution of Self-replicating Polymers

Monteiro, L. H. A., & Piqueira, J. R. C. (1998) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1006/jtbi.1997.0568 · Cited by 5 · see citing works

Modeling Homopolymer Self-replication: Implications for Early Competition

Monteiro, L. H. A., & Piqueira, J. R. C. (1999) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1006/jtbi.1998.0823 · Cited by 3 · see citing works

Polyamine/Nucleotide Coacervates Provide Strong Compartmentalization of Mg ²⁺ , Nucleotides, and RNA

Frankel, E. A., Bevilacqua, P. C., & Keating, C. D. (2016) · Langmuir · doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b04462 · Cited by 159 · see citing works

The Emergence of Life

Camprubí, E., de Leeuw, J. W., House, C. H., Raulin, F., Russell, M. J., Spang, A., Tirumalai, M. R., & Westall, F. (2019) · Space Science Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11214-019-0624-8 · Cited by 84 · see citing works

Theory, modelling and simulation in origins of life studies

Coveney, P. V., Swadling, J. B., Wattis, J. A. D., & Greenwell, H. C. (2012) · Chemical Society Reviews · doi:10.1039/c2cs35018a · Cited by 73 · see citing works

Nucleotide synthetase ribozymes may have emerged first in the RNA world

Ma, W., Yu, C., Zhang, W., & Hu, J. (2007) · RNA · doi:10.1261/rna.658507 · Cited by 43 · see citing works

What Does “the RNA World” Mean to “the Origin of Life”?

Ma, W. (2017) · Life · doi:10.3390/life7040049 · Cited by 19 · see citing works

The Origin of Life: A Problem of History, Chemistry, and Evolution

Ma, W. (2014) · Chemistry & Biodiversity · doi:10.1002/cbdv.201400188 · Cited by 14 · see citing works

Protocells: At the Interface of Life and Non-Life

Ma, W., & Feng, Y. (2015) · Life · doi:10.3390/life5010447 · Cited by 10 · see citing works

Use of RNA in drug design

Lagoja, I. M., & Herdewijn, P. A. (2007) · Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery · doi:10.1517/17460441.2.6.889 · Cited by 8 · see citing works

Hypothesis for Molecular Evolution in the Pre‐Cellular Stage of the Origin of Life

Wang, Y., & Du, Y. (2025) · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews - RNA · doi:10.1002/wrna.70001 · Cited by 6 · see citing works

How the discovery of ribozymes cast RNA in the roles of both chicken and egg in origin-of-life theories

Sankaran, N. (2012) · Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2012.06.002 · Cited by 6 · see citing works

Prebiotic world, macroevolution, and Darwin’s theory: a new insight

Boto, L., Doadrio, I., & Diogo, R. (2007) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-007-9072-z · Cited by 5 · see citing works

Self-replication: spelling it out in a chemical background

Ma, W., Yu, C., Zhang, W., Zhou, P., & Hu, J. (2010) · Theory in Biosciences · doi:10.1007/s12064-010-0117-5 · Cited by 4 · see citing works

Tag mechanism as a strategy for the RNA replicase to resist parasites in the RNA world

Wu, S., Yu, C., Zhang, W., Yin, S., Chen, Y., Feng, Y., & Ma, W. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172702 · Cited by 4 · see citing works

The Evolutionary Enhancement of Genotype–Phenotype Linkages in the Presence of Multiple Copies of Genetic Material

Uno, K., Sunami, T., Ichihashi, N., Kazuta, Y., Matsuura, T., & Yomo, T. (2014) · ChemBioChem · doi:10.1002/cbic.201402299 · Cited by 3 · see citing works

A polymerase ribozyme increases copying fidelity through pyrophosphate-mediated RNA repair

Kent, A. D., Yang, L. L., Cole, K. H., Lee, I., & Lupták, A. (2026) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2606892123 · Cited by 2 · see citing works

There is no common ground between science and religion

Valdecasas, A. G., Boto, L., & Correas, A. M. (2013) · Journal of Biosciences · doi:10.1007/s12038-013-9318-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works

Non-enzymatic template-directed RNA recombination processes in Monte Carlo simulation model of the RNA world

Myszor, D., & Cyran, K. A. (2010) · International Conference on Systems · Cited by 1 · see citing works

Evolution of translational machinery: Could translation termination come into being before elongation?

Hauryliuk, V. (2007) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.06.002

Functional Genomics Studies of PINK1

Scheele, C. C. (2007) · Figshare

Artificial Intelligence, Branching Processes and Coalescent Methods in Evolution of Humans and Early Life

Cyran, K. A. (2013) · doi:10.21936/si2011_v32.n1b.110

Nucleotide synthetase ribozymes may have emerged first in the RNA world

Ma, W., Yu, C., Zhang, W., & Hu, J. (2007) · RNA · doi:10.1261/rna.658507 · Cited by 43 · see citing works

A Simple Template-Dependent Ligase Ribozyme as the RNA Replicase Emerging First in the RNA World

Ma, W., Yu, C., Zhang, W., & Hu, J. (2010) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2009.0385 · Cited by 22 · see citing works

Monte Carlo simulation of early molecular evolution in the RNA World

Ma, W., Yu, C., & Zhang, W. (2006) · Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2006.06.005 · Cited by 25 · see citing works

The RNA World: Reality or Dogma?

Chatterjee, S. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-23397-5_10

Group I Introns as Catalytic RNA Models to Investigate the Origin of Life and to Explore the Drivers of Evolution in the RNA World

Peri, G. (2025) · doi:10.18122/td.2427.boisestate