A 3-D thermal model identifies a ~ 4.33 Ga temporal “sweet spot” for life’s origin, when decreased bombardment enabled mild hydrothermal niches to support RNA World chemistry and stable biomolecu...

Abstract. Group II introns are ancient self-splicing ribozymes and retrotransposons. Though long speculated to have originated before translation, their de

In RNA world scenarios pools of RNA oligomers form strongly interacting

Już po raz dwudziesty pierwszy Miasto przyznało nagrody za najlepsze prace doktorskie i magisterskie obronione na poznańskich uczelniach i w instytucjach naukowych. W tym roku wyróżnienia odebrało 13 ...

Towards an Information Theoretic Model of Evolution [White, Bryan P] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Towards an Information Theoretic Model of Evolution

It’s been over two years since the samples from Bennu gathered by OSIRIS-REx were returned to Earth. But there’s still plenty of novel science coming out of that 121.6 g of material. Three new papers ...

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

Abstract. Viroids, the agents of several plant diseases, are the smallest and simplest known replicators that consist of covalently closed circular (ccc) R

The early history of life can provide inspiration from the idea of the prebiotic “RNA World” established by ribozymes, in which all genetic and catalytic activities were executed by RNA.

I've taken the recent media attention around an effort to create "artificial cells" as an excuse to revisit the boundary between non-life and life, and how life emerges from non-living material. To me, evolution removes the entire question of "creating" complexity, as complexity tends to evolve from simpler forms all by itself. What we really need to find is the point where chemicals, instead of just sitting there, start to evolve. Based on this philosophy, I was quite underwhelmed by those artificial cells, which, in the tradition spanning from Frankenstein to Craig Venter, represent another attempt to create something with dubious credentials as a living being but still much too complex to count as an origin of life. Luckily, there has been a significant breakthrough in self-replicating ribozymes recently, so I covered this as a positive example of what I would like to see instead of all the "creator" hybris. Anyhow, the resulting feature is out now: **Making life from scratch** Current Biology Volume 36, Issue 16, 17 August 2026, Pages R875--R877 Restricted access to full text and PDF download Magic link for free access (first seven weeks only) (Unfortunately, this year's features will no longer become open access one year after publication - do contact me if you would like a PDF and the magic link has expired.) See also my new Mastodon thread where I will highlight all this year's CB features. My mastodon posts are also mirrored on Bluesky. Last year's thread is here . Mythological and fictional accounts of the origins of life feature the creation of complexity (Prometheus producing humans, in this case). As we now know that complexity evolves, we only need to find the origin of evolution. (Image: marble relief by an unknown artist courtesy of the Louvre Museum.)

Chemists at UCL (University College London) and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have demonstrated how RNA (ribonucleic acid) might have replicated itself on early Earth – a key process in the origin of life.