Evolution in an RNA World
Open accessAbstract
A long-standing research goal has been to develop a self-sustained chemical system that is capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution. The notion of primitive RNA-based life suggests that this goal might be achieved by constructing an RNA enzyme that catalyzes the replication of RNA molecules, including the RNA enzyme itself. This reaction was demonstrated recently in a cross-catalytic system involving two RNA enzymes that catalyze each other's synthesis from a total of four component substrates. The cross-replicating RNA enzymes undergo self-sustained exponential amplification at a constant temperature in the absence of proteins or other biological materials. Amplification occurs with a doubling time of approximately 1 hour and can be continued indefinitely. Small populations of cross-replicating RNA enzymes can be made to compete for limited resources within a common environment. The molecules reproduce with high fidelity but occasionally give rise to recombinants that also can replicate. Over the course of many "generations" of selective amplification, novel variants arise and grow to dominate the population based on their relative fitness under the chosen reaction conditions. This is the first example, outside of biology, of evolutionary adaptation in a molecular genetic system.
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RNA-based biochemistry represents an attractive platform for minimal synthetic self-replicating life since there is no need to support DNA and protein synthesis.
“RNA-based biochemistry also represents an attractive platform for minimal synthetic self-replicating life since there is no need to support DNA and protein synthesis (Szostak et al. 2001; Muller 2006; Joyce 2009; Cheng and Unrau 2010).”
From The paradox of dual roles in the RNA world: resolving the conflict between stable folding and templating ability (2013) · cites this paper as Joyce 2009
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- Authors
- Joyce, G. F.
- Affiliations
- Scripps Research Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Joyce, G. F.
- ORCID
- Joyce, G. F.
- Venue
- Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology
- Publisher
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
- Published
- 2009-01-01
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 0
- Pages
- 17-23
- ISSN
- 0091-7451 (ISSN-L)
- 1943-4456
- PMC
- PMC2891321
- OpenAlex
- W2131385643
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (R01GM065130, NNX07AJ23G)
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM065130)
- 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
- RNA world, self-replicating RNA, Darwinian evolution, RNA replication, molecular evolution, exponential amplification, recombinant RNA, origin of life
- MeSH terms
- Base Sequence, Models, Genetic, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Polynucleotide Ligases, RNA, RNA, Catalytic, Directed Molecular Evolution, Evolution, Molecular
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