Scientists from the Malopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University (UJ) presented a possible scenario of beginning life on Earth in an article recently published in the Trends in Ecology and Evolution Journal.

The article of Dr Jonathan Heddle, head of the Bionanoscience and Biochemistry Laboratory at the Małopolska Center of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University, was written in cooperation with Bernard Piette from the Department of Mathematical Sciences of Durham University and presents the concept according to which IDA (initial Darwinian ancestor) consisted of two parts – a short strand of nucleic acid and a short peptide. Nucleic acid contains information on how to build a protein from simple elements and directs their structure, while the created protein produces copies of the nucleic acid strand. Therefore, this pair is a two-element self-duplicating system.

The researchers hope that their publication will allow other researchers to experimentally check the correctness of the two-element IDA concept. Its demonstration by means of an experiment can provide relevant knowledge about the beginnings of life.
More:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2020.01.001.