Emergence of information transmission in a prebiotic RNA reactor

TL;DR

This study investigates how early self-replicating RNA systems could have emerged in hydrothermal reactors, showing that sequence correlations indicative of information transmission can develop from simple chemical processes.

Contribution

It demonstrates that prebiotic RNA reactors can produce sequence correlations resembling biological information transmission, advancing understanding of life's origins.

Findings

Sequence correlations emerge in RNA reactors.

Local basepairing protects RNA from cleavage.

Signatures of information transmission are observed.

Abstract

A poorly understood step in the transition from a chemical to a biological world is the emergence of self-replicating molecular systems. We study how a precursor for such a replicator might arise in a hydrothermal RNA reactor, which accumulates longer sequences from unbiased monomer influx and random ligation. In the reactor, intra- and inter-molecular basepairing locally protects from random cleavage. By analyzing stochastic simulations, we find temporal sequence correlations that constitute a signature of information transmission, weaker but of the same form as in a true replicator.