RNA Archives

Polarisation microscopy analyses reveal that tartrate in the calcium tartrate crystals had no chirality preference. Credit Chen Chen

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

How Calcium May Have Unlocked The Origins Of Life’s Molecular Asymmetry

by Keith CowingMarch 28, 2025March 28, 2025

A new study led by researchers at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo has uncovered a surprising role for calcium in shaping life’s earliest molecular structures. […]

Biomolecule Sequencer for the BEST experiment floating in front of Window 7 in the Cupola module. Earth is in the background. The Biomolecule Sequencer seeks to demonstrate, for the first time, that DNA sequencing is feasible in an orbiting spacecraft. A space-based DNA sequencer could identify microbes, diagnose diseases and understand crew member health, and potentially help detect DNA-based life elsewhere in the solar system. -- NASA iss057e000185 (10/8/2018)

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: Unlocking the Full Potential of Nanopore Sequencing: Tips, Tricks, and Advanced Data Analysis Techniques

by Keith CowingMarch 24, 2025March 24, 2025

Editor’s note: If we aspire to mount expeditions to new worlds and then embrace the task of characterizing and quantifying whatever life forms we find, the ability to map and […]

Proposed mechanism of compartmentalization and self-replication via an RNA condensate: (1) condensation, (2) RNA-templated polymerization (green arrows) and growth, and (3) division. -- q-bio.BM

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

An RNA Condensate Model For The Origin Of Life

by Keith CowingMarch 17, 2025

The RNA World hypothesis predicts that self-replicating RNAs evolved before DNA genomes and coded proteins. Despite widespread support for the RNA World, self-replicating RNAs have yet to be identified in […]

Imposed selection pressures and adaptive strategies in self-replicating RNA within a liposome. Rapid completion of strand duplication in night hours before the onset of warmer daytime conditions and strand separation selected for asymmetric nucleotides. Strand separation resulted in hydrolysis of individual nucleotide strands selecting for sequences that permitted self-binding in hairpin loops or formation of RNA–peptide hybrids. These adaptations evolved into transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA)-templated protein synthesis. UV light during daylight hours degraded all elements of the cell. However, the selection of specific RNA–peptide hybrids allowed for the scavenging of free radicals and promoted the synthesis of melanin from tyrosine, allowing protocells to survive and replicate.-- LIFE

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

On the Origin of Information Dynamics in Early Life

by Keith CowingMarch 3, 2025March 3, 2025

We hypothesize that predictable variations in environmental conditions caused by night/day cycles created opportunities and hazards that initiated information dynamics central to life’s origin.

Overview of model architecture, training procedure, datasets, and evaluations for Evo 2.

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Citizen Science / Open Science, Commercial & Private Sector, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report

Genome Modeling And Design Across All Domains Of Life With Evo 2

by Keith CowingFebruary 21, 2025March 7, 2026

All of life encodes information with DNA. While tools for sequencing, synthesis, and editing of genomic code have transformed biological research, intelligently composing new biological systems would also require a […]

A codon, a sequence of three nucleotides in DNA and RNA that codes for a specific amino acid, acts like an “instruction manual” for protein synthesis, telling the cell which of the 20 natural amino acids to add to a growing protein chain — or, in the case of the three “stop” codons (known as TAG, TGA, and TAA), signaling the termination of protein synthesis. Yale scientists recoded a cell to have a single, non-degenerative TAA codon. The newly “free” TGA and TAG codons have been reassigned to encode nonstandard amino acids into synthetic proteins that possess new chemistries with innumerable applications. Credit Yale University / Michael S. Helfenbein

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Recoding A Genome For Programmable Synthetic Proteins

by Keith CowingFebruary 11, 2025

Synthetic biologists from Yale were able to re-write the genetic code of an organism — a novel genomically recoded organism (GRO) with one stop codon — using a cellular platform […]

A mosaic image of asteroid Bennu, composed of 12 PolyCam images collected by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 24 kilometers. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Life’s Building Blocks Discovered In Samples From Asteroid Bennu

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2025September 18, 2025

Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.

Mg, Na phosphate occurs with Mg phyllosilicates largely free of micron-sized sulfide inclusions. The Mg,Na phosphate–Mg phyllosilicate veins rim large dolomite (Dol) grains that include magnetite (multielement Kα X-ray map; sample no. OREX-803085-100). Scale bar, 200 μm. -- Nature

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return

Pristine Asteroid Samples Reveal Secrets Of The Ancient Solar System

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2025January 30, 2025

Curtin University researchers have gained an unprecedented glimpse into the early history of our solar system through some of the most well-preserved asteroid samples ever collected, potentially transforming our understanding […]

Canister containing material collected from asteroid Bennu placed inside the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Univ. of Arizona/Lockheed Martin

Exploring The Mysteries Of Asteroid Bennu

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2025January 30, 2025

During the past year, there’s been an unusual set of samples at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab): material gathered from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu when […]

a, Summed mass spectrum acquired from several ~100 μm grains mounted on a KBr window with mass peaks for ammonia (NH3), sodium (Na), formaldehyde (H2C=O), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and potassium (K) indicated. Spectrum acquired by μ-L2MS using a vacuum UV photoionization at 118 nm. b, Optical mosaic of particle with yellow box demarking region mapped by μ-L2MS. c, Spatial map of ammonia distribution overlaid over optical image. The μ-L2MS laser beam spot size was 5 μm. -- Nature Astronomy

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return

Dust From asteroid Bennu: Building Blocks Of Life And Possible Habitats Were Widespread In Our Solar System

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2025January 30, 2025

It took two years for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe to return from asteroid Bennu before dropping off a small capsule as it flew past Earth, which was then recovered in […]