Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created an RNA molecule that can not just replicate, but “evolve” into a diverse range of more complex molecules. This find could plug a major gap in the ...

Scientists have long pondered the beginnings of life on Earth. One theory is that RNA, which is ubiquitous across all domains of life, played a central role in early life. Similar to DNA, RNA ...

Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have demonstrated how RNA (ribonucleic acid) might have replicated itself on early Earth – a key process in the origin of life. Scientists ...

Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have demonstrated how RNA (ribonucleic acid) might have replicated itself on early Earth—a key process in the origin of life. Scientists ...

RNA is thought to have sparked the origin of life by self-copying. Researchers have now revealed the atomic structure of an 'RNA copy machine' through cryo-EM. This breakthrough sheds light on a ...

For 400 million years, a leading hypothesis claims, Earth was an “RNA World,” meaning that life must’ve first replicated from RNA before the arrival of proteins and DNA. Unfortunately, scientists have ...

This story is part of a larger series on viroids and virusoids, small infectious RNAs. It is also the sixth installment in a series on hepatitis D virus, a virusoid-like pathogen that causes serious ...

This article is part of a series on viroids. The first, which can be read here, gave an overview of what viroids are and how they replicate. The second article described the plant host range of ...