# Concurrent origins of the genetic code and the homochirality of life, and the origin and evolution of biodiversity. Part I: Observations and explanations

## TL;DR

This paper explores how the genetic code and life's homochirality originated together, and how biodiversity evolved, using genomic and geological data.

## Contribution

A new roadmap linking base triplex stability to the origin of the genetic code and homochirality is proposed.

## Key findings

- Base triplex stabilities regulate base substitutions in DNA, influencing the genetic code's origin.
- A three-domain tree of life was reconstructed using codon recruitment order and genome sequences.
- The Phanerozoic biodiversity curve supports tectonic causes for mass extinctions.

## Abstract

The post-genomic era has brought opportunities to bridge traditionally separate fields on early history of life. New methods promote a deeper understanding of the origin of biodiversity. Relative stabilities of base triplexes are able to regulate base substitutions in triplex DNAs. We constructed a roadmap based on such a regulation to explain concurrent origins of the genetic code and the homochirality of life. Based on the recruitment order of codons in the roadmap and the complete genome sequences, we reconstructed the three-domain tree of life. The Phanerozoic biodiversity curve has been reconstructed based on genomic, climatic and eustatic data; this result supports tectonic cause of mass extinctions. Our results indicate that chirality played a crucial role in the origin and evolution of life. Here is Part I of my two-part series paper; technical details are in Part II of this paper (see “Concurrent origins of the genetic code and the homochirality of life, and the origin and evolution of biodiversity. Part II: Technical appendix” on bioRxiv).