Getting past the RNA world: the initial Darwinian ancestor.
A little-noted result of the confirmation of multiple premises of the RNA-world hypothesis is that we now know something about the dawn organisms that followed the origin of life, perhaps over 4 billion years ago. We are therefore in an improved position to reason about the biota just before RNA times, during the era of the first replicators, the first Darwinian creatures on Earth. An RNA congener still prominent in modern biology is a plausible descendent of these first replicators.
Yarus
Michael
M
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. yarus@colorado.edu
D018534:Earth, Planet; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA