The Ribofilm as a concept for Life’s origins
Open accessAbstract
Recent phylogenetic data indicating that the first archaea were methane-producing galvanizes cross-disciplinary evidence supporting the hypothesis that life arose via thermodynamically directed events at hydrothermal vents. The new developments lead us to propose the concept of a ribofilm in which RNA's origin-of-life role is more akin to a slowly changing platform than a spontaneous self-replicator.
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There is no clear evidence that an RNA world ever existed.
“there is no clear evidence that an RNA world ever existed (Baross and Martin, 2015)”
From Serpentinization as the source of energy, electrons, organics, catalysts, nutrients and pH gradients for the origin of LUCA and life (2023) · cites this paper as Baross and Martin, 2015
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- Authors
- Baross, J. A., & Martin, W. F.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Baross, John A.
- Martin, William F.
- ORCID
- Martin, William F.
- Venue
- Cell
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 162
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 13-15
- ISSN
- 0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1593581809
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 2.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Washington
- NASA Astrobiology Institute
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- origin of life, RNA, archaea, zinc coating, methane production, hydrothermal vents, thermodynamics, self-replication
- MeSH terms
- Origin of Life, Archaea, Methane, Phylogeny, Proteins, RNA, Thermodynamics, Hydrothermal Vents
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