Peptide nucleic acids rather than RNA may have been the first genetic molecule
Open accessAbstract
Numerous problems exist with the current thinking of RNA as the first genetic material. No plausible prebiotic processes have yet been demonstrated to produce the nucleosides or nucleotides or for efficient two-way nonenzymatic replication. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a promising precursor to RNA, consisting of N -(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG) and the adenine, uracil, guanine, and cytosine- N -acetic acids. However, PNA has not yet been demonstrated to be prebiotic. We show here that AEG is produced directly in electric discharge reactions from CH 4 , N 2 , NH 3 , and H 2 O. Electric discharges also produce ethylenediamine, as do NH 4 CN polymerizations. AEG is produced from the robust Strecker synthesis with ethylenediamine. The NH 4 CN polymerization in the presence of glycine leads to the adenine and guanine- N 9 -acetic acids, and the cytosine and uracil- N 1 -acetic acids are produced in high yield from the reaction of cyanoacetaldehyde with hydantoic acid, rather than urea. Preliminary experiments suggest that AEG may polymerize rapidly at 100°C to give the polypeptide backbone of PNA. The ease of synthesis of the components of PNA and possibility of polymerization of AEG reinforce the possibility that PNA may have been the first genetic material.
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PNA can be easily synthesized under prebiotic conditions.
“Additionally, it can be easily synthesized under prebiotic conditions (Nelson et al. 2000).”
From The Emergence of Life (2019) · cites this paper as Nelson et al. 2000
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- Authors
- Nelson, K. E., Levy, M., & Miller, S. L.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- ORCID
- Levy, Matthew
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2000-04-11
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 3868-3871
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC18108
- OpenAlex
- W1991122925
- Cited by
- 269
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 10.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- 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 › Molecular Biology › DNA and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
- Keywords
- peptide nucleic acid, origin of life, prebiotic chemistry, Strecker synthesis, electric discharge synthesis, ethylenediamine, hydantoin, nucleobase synthesis
- MeSH terms
- Biopolymers, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Ethylenediamines, Glycine, RNA, Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet, Peptide Nucleic Acids
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