RNA Archives

tinyRNA-seq: An Optimized Approach To Sequencing Tiny RNAs And Primitive RNA Genomes

by Keith CowingSeptember 2, 2026September 2, 2026

[biorxiv.org] Very short RNAs play critical roles in modern biology, and are thought to have been crucial for genome replication during the origin of life.

A symbiotic scenario for co-evolution of the ribosome and the replicase. Two variations of the scenario are depicted, whereby the peptidyltransferase center (PTC) and the replicase (REP) ribozymes are encoded by distinct (A) or the same (B) RNA molecule. The figure depicts three major stages of cellular evolution from the primordial RNA world (left) to the intermediate RNA-protein world (center) and the last universal cellular ancestor (LUCA, right). The major events occurring during each stage are briefly described in the corresponding information boxes at the bottom of the figure. -- [q-bio.PE]

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics

The Selfish Ribosome

by Keith CowingAugust 28, 2026August 28, 2026

[q-bio.PE]. The ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis in all cells, and is the largest energy consumer in the cell.

Heat transforms clusters of RNA into liquid-like droplets. The study found that temperature can alter the physical properties of RNA condensates, allowing a more networked structure to relax into rounded droplets. Credit Priya Banerjee/University at Buffalo

Origin & Evolution of Life

RNA Droplets May Have Helped Start life on Earth

by Keith CowingAugust 21, 2026August 21, 2026

[University at Buffalo] It’s one of the origins of life’s chicken-or-the-egg problems: How could RNA have helped give rise to the first cells before there were cells to contain them?

(A) Membraneless compartmentalization resulting from liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS). Oil in water represents an example of LLPS, which is a first-order phase transition in soft condensed matter that is driven by molecular interactions that cause separation into two coexisting liquid phases. (B) Intermolecular interactions between intrinsically disordered biopolymers mediate LLPS. -- Academia Molecular Biology and Genomics

Origin & Evolution of Life

Liquid–liquid Phase Separation As A Driver Of Abiogenesis And Evolution

by Keith CowingAugust 3, 2026August 3, 2026

[Academia Molecular Biology and Genomics] The origin of life may have emerged through physical mechanisms that enable molecular organization and self-assembly.

(a) MCM2-7 double-hexamer (DH). (b) DDK-activated MCM2-7 DH in complex with Sld3-Sld7. (c) CDK activity promotes recruitment of helicase activation factors GINS, Polε, Sld2, and Dpb11. (d) Sld2-GINSDpb11-Polε-induced MCM2-7 ATPase-dependent activity results in the splitting of the DH and a rotation of the two CMGE complexes against each other. (e) Mcm10 recruitment promotes DNA extrusion and complete separation of the two hexamers. (f) Extended unwinding promotes the recruitment of Tof1, part of the replication fork protection complex. Loading factors that do not form part of the replication fork are shown in grey. -- Nature

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics

Pinpointing Where Cells First Begin Copying DNA

by Keith CowingJuly 25, 2026July 25, 2026

[Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Medical Sciences] Every time a cell divides, it must faithfully copy its entire genetic instruction manual. Errors during this process can damage the genome, […]

a) Biological evolution as stochastic optimization: Initially, wild-type cells x grow up a population. A mutant y grows up a population. The populations x and y compete. The winner (greater population) then fetches more resources. Fitness landscapes at the bottom show how the mutant is an experiment, where the winner decides the next step direction. b) Evolution annotated in terms of the Central Dogma: (Left, green) Wildtype starting point, NA encodes PR, which gives fitness F. (Top, red), Mutation in the blueprint NA, becoming NA’. (Red, green) both NA sequences grow up into populations. (Next) The populations compete for fitness. The winner, Fx now carries with it the winning sequence NAx and protein P Rx. -- [biorxiv.org]

Origin & Evolution of Life

RNA And Proteins Joined Up At The Origins Of Life: Persistence Is The Point

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2026July 21, 2026

[biorxiv.org] What drove nucleic acids (NA) to associate with proteins (PR) at the Origins of Life? We reason from polymer physics and the Central Dogma (CD) that the fitness value […]

An RNA library containing a partially randomized sequence having an estimated complexity of ~1014 sequences

Origin & Evolution of Life

How Early RNA-based Life May Have Repaired Its Genome

by Keith CowingJuly 14, 2026July 14, 2026

[University of Notre Dame] In most modern cells, DNA stores the genetic blueprint, and relies on proteins to replicate, repair and build from those blueprints. At the same time, proteins […]

Composite image from the Galactic Center. Green and yellow: 8 µm and 24 µm emission observed with Spitzer (Churchwell et al. 2009; Carey et al. 2009). Red: 20 cm emission imaged with MeerKAT (Heywood et al. 2019, 2022) and the Green Bank Telescope (GBT; Law et al. 2008). Image adapted from Henshaw et al. (2023; doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2203.11223) and Longmore et al. (2026; 10.48550/arXiv.2602.20340). Credits: Ashley Barnes/Izaskun Jiménez-Serra/Juan García de la Concepción

Astrochemistry

Sugar Erythrulose Discovered In Interstellar Space

by Keith CowingJuly 13, 2026July 13, 2026

[Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)] Sugars are key biomolecules in living organisms, as they form the backbone of DNA and RNA and play a fundamental role in metabolic processes. In […]

Schematic of the selection step in the doped in emulsio selection.

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

What Powered the Earth’s Earliest Life?

by Keith CowingJune 12, 2026June 12, 2026

Early biological systems likely relied on RNA molecules to copy themselves and drive simple chemical reactions.

The contentious role of RNA in early evolution. The arrow represents the evolutionary trajectory from protobiology to the biological cell, with Protogenetics and the RNA-World as critical intermediary stages. The RNA-First paradigm implicitly assumes not only that RNA was fundamental to the emergence of genetic material but that the protobiological stage itself was already dominated by RNA chemistry, which this essay argues is incompatible with the combinatorial vastness of abiotic environments. -- Life

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

The RNA-First Fallacy: Conflating Evolutionary Ancestry with Prebiotic Primacy

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2026June 11, 2026

The RNA-World hypothesis remains the most widely accepted framework in origins-of-life research, anchored in compelling biochemical evidence for RNA’s deep evolutionary ancestry. However, this viewpoint routinely extends beyond that and […]