title: Setting the stage: the history, chemistry, and geobiology behind RNA.
abstract: No community-accepted scientific methods are available today to guide studies on what role RNA played in the origin and early evolution of life on Earth. Further, a definition-theory for life is needed to develop hypotheses relating to the "RNA First" model for the origin of life. Four approaches are currently at various stages of development of such a definition-theory to guide these studies. These are (a) paleogenetics, in which inferences about the structure of past life are drawn from the structure of present life; (b) prebiotic chemistry, in which hypotheses with experimental support are sought that get RNA from organic and inorganic species possibly present on early Earth; (c) exploration, hoping to encounter life independent of terran life, which might contain RNA; and (d) synthetic biology, in which laboratories attempt to reproduce biological behavior with unnatural chemical systems.
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Florida 32601, USA. sbenner@ffame.org
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Benner
authors.forename: Hyo-Joong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Zunyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008967:Molecular Biology; D000069497:Origin of Life; D012313:RNA / Q000502:physiology*; D058615:Synthetic Biology
chemical_list: D012313:RNA