The origin of life is a fascinating, unresolved problem whose deciphering would have
important scientific, epistemological and social implications. Over time, philosophers and …

The widespread presence of ribonucleic acid (RNA) catalysts and cofactors in the Earth′ s
biosphere today suggests that RNA was the first biopolymer to support Darwinian evolution …

The problems associated with the RNA world hypothesis are well known. In the following I
discuss some of these difficulties, some of the alternative hypotheses that have been …

The aim of this article is to provide the reader with an overview of the different possible
scenarios for the emergence of life, to critically assess them and, according to the …

Because RNA can be a carrier of genetic information and a biocatalyst, there is a consensus
that it emerged before DNA and proteins, which eventually assumed these roles and …

Understanding how genotypes map onto phenotypes, fitness, and eventually organisms is
arguably the next major missing piece in a fully predictive theory of evolution. We refer to this …

The origin of life is believed to have progressed through an RNA world, in which RNA acted
as both genetic material and functional molecules. The structure of the evolutionary fitness …

The emergence of an RNA catalyst capable of self-replication is considered a key transition
in the origin of life. However, how such replicase ribozymes emerged from the pools of short …

How life emerged from inanimate matter is one of the most intriguing questions posed to
modern science. Central to this research are experimental attempts to build systems capable …

In recent years, an extension of the Darwinian framework is being considered for the study of
prebiotic chemical evolution, shifting the attention from homogeneous populations of naked …