title: On the primacy of primordial RNA.
abstract: The ability of RNA to catalyze biochemical reactions is used to develop a self-consistent picture of how a primordial RNA could have given rise to the necessary factors and processes of early life forms. Essential to this proposal is the impact of RNA structural domains, "selected" by thermodynamic criteria, on the structure of early proteins (exons) and the assembly of functional complexes. Based on this analysis, the chronological appearance of informational molecules follows the order: primordial RNA, proteins whose structures are determined by primordial RNA sequences and finally DNA.
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D005091:Exons; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D012313:RNA