title: The Ribofilm as a Concept for Life's Origins.
abstract: Recent phylogenetic data indicating that the first archaea were methane-producing galvanizes cross-disciplinary evidence supporting the hypothesis that life arose via thermodynamically directed events at hydrothermal vents. The new developments lead us to propose the concept of a ribofilm in which RNA's origin-of-life role is more akin to a slowly changing platform than a spontaneous self-replicator.
authors.affiliation: School of Oceanography and Astrobiology Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Electronic address: jbaross@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Baross
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf 40225, Germany. Electronic address: bill@hhu.de.
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D060086:Hydrothermal Vents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology*; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010802:Phylogeny; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA; D008697:Methane