title: Emergence of life: from functional RNA selection to natural selection and beyond.
abstract: This study tracks the rise, evolution and post-evolution of the genetic information system through emergence of life. The major stages traversed include prebiotic synthesis, functional RNA selection by metabolite, RNA World, peptidated RNA world, co-evolution of genetic code and amino acid biosynthesis, last universal common ancestor, Darwinian evolution and synthetic life.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science and Applied Genomics Center, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jeffrey Tze-Fei
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005815:Genetic Code / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010802:Phylogeny; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D012313:RNA; D012343:RNA, Transfer