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Dna Before Proteins? Recent Discoveries In Nucleic Acid Catalysis Strengthen The Case, Aaron Steven Burton, Niles Lehman

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

An RNA-DNA World could arise from an all-RNA system with the development of as few as three ribozymes— a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, and a catalyst for the production of DNA nucleotides. A significant objection to DNA preceding proteins is that RNA has not been shown to catalyze the production of DNA. However, RNA- and DNAzymes have been recently discovered that catalyze chemical reactions capable of forming deoxyribose, such as mixed aldol condensation of 5’-glyceryl- and 3’- glycoaldehyde-terminated DNA strands. Thus, the only remaining obstacles to RNA-catalyzed in vitro DNA synthesis are alterations of substrate and template …