Ars Technica

Tiny, 45 base long RNA can make copies of itself

There are plenty of unanswered questions about the origin of life on Earth. But the research community has largely reached consensus that one of the key steps was the emergence of an RNA molecule that ...
Phys.org

Could the discovery of a tiny RNA molecule explain the origins of life?

One of the greatest mysteries of our planet is how a soup of lifeless chemicals transformed into the first living cell. There are several competing theories about where this happened, from frozen ...
New Scientist

RNA strand that can almost self-replicate may be key to life's origins

According to the RNA world hypothesis, life began when RNA molecules evolved the ability to make more copies of themselves. Now we have discovered an RNA molecule that is almost capable of this – it ...
AOL

Asteroid Bennu sample finds life’s building blocks formed in space ice

Penn State researchers think a key ingredient for life may have formed in deep freeze, not in a warm asteroid puddle. Scientists at Penn State; led by geoscientist Allison Baczynski and postdoctoral ...
The Conversation

RNA is key to the dark matter of the genome − scientists are sequencing it to illuminate human health and disease

Marlene Belfort does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...
Astronomy

Amino acids in Bennu may have formed differently

When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission brought back samples from asteroid 101955 Bennu, researchers found that they contained amino acids, the building blocks necessary for life. Amino acids are the molecules ...
Hosted on MSN

NASA’s Bennu mission found something no one predicted

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft didn’t just collect rocks from asteroid Bennu — it brought back samples that are rewriting our understanding of the early solar system. Scientists found unexpected ...
Medical Xpress

RNA molecule discovery could lead to potential new breast cancer therapy

QIMR Berghofer scientists have discovered a cancer-fighting RNA molecule that could hold the key to a new way of treating the most common form of breast cancer. The team are developing their findings ...
Medical Xpress

Structure-based RNA could lead to treatment for neuromuscular disorders

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have discovered a way to target RNA that could lead to new treatment options for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), the most common adult-onset form of ...
Space.com

How did life begin on Earth? New experiments support 'RNA world' hypothesis

A giant impact on the early Earth could have brought the building blocks of RNA to our planet, which new research suggests could have quickly formed in the presence of compounds called borates. When ...
Scientific American

RNA Might Have Formed Naturally on Early Earth, Seeding Life

How life begins remains an unsolved question. One key component might be RNA, a molecular cousin of DNA found in every form of life on Earth, and now scientists say they have shown how it could have ...