New Experiments Suggest RNA Could Have Formed Naturally, Supporting ‘RNA World’ Origin of Life Theory

New experiments suggest that RNA, one of the most fundamental molecules of life, could have developed naturally on the early Earth. Researchers simulated 4.3 billion years ago, combining ribose, nucleobases, phosphates, borate, and basalt and then heating and drying the mixture. RNA made without human-directed reactions, a hint that life's building blocks can arise quickly. The results complement a parsec of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which discovered ribose in asteroid Bennu, suggesting the ingredients for RNA may have been delivered through impacts by ancient protoplanets.

Study Suggests Borates May Have Supported RNA Formation, Offering Clues to Life's Origins on Early Earth

According to a report from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team, led by Yuta Hirakawa of Tohoku University, found that borates, which were previously thought to hamper the formation of RNA, actually stabilised ribose and facilitated phosphate production. The experiments approximate the conditions of this natural process, implying that it may have taken place efficiently in underground aquifers.

RNA probably came before DNA, serving as the storehouse of genetic information and driving chemical reactions; a 500-kilometre-wide protoplanet may have brought its components to Earth.

Mars Could Have Supported RNA Formation, Strengthening the RNA World Hypothesis for Life's Origins

These findings also suggest that Mars, which has borates and experienced similar impacts, could have been capable of forming RNA. RNA's advent on Earth would thus potentially have presented a shortcut to the rapid evolution of simple organisms that lie between chemistry and biology.

Hirakawa's finding dispels the idea that only under sophisticated lab conditions RNA could self-replicate and adds weight to an RNA world theory of how life began on Earth, and perhaps elsewhere.