A continuous reaction network that produces RNA precursors
Ruiqin Yi, Quoc Phuong Tran, Sarfaraz Ali Ghumro, Isao Yoda, Zachary R. Adam, Henderson James Cleaves, Albert C. Fahrenbach
Abstract
Significance RNA may have been the original polymer to arise spontaneously on the early Earth through natural geochemistry. Although direct physical evidence regarding early Earth’s geochemistry is extremely limited, complex chemical reaction networks are thought to have played an important role in chemical evolution. The present study demonstrates an experimental model reaction network that generates a number of compounds that can lead to RNA synthesis in a single mixture starting from simple organic and inorganic feedstocks. Models of this type will help explain which conditions are needed to produce RNA in primitive planetary settings.