Sequencing the origins of life

Tony Z Jia; Shota Nishikawa; Kosuke Fujishima

doi:10.1016/j.bbadva.2022.100049

Sequencing the origins of life

BBA Adv. 2022 Mar 5:2:100049. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadva.2022.100049. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Tony Z Jia^{1

2}, Shota Nishikawa^{1

3}, Kosuke Fujishima^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
² Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 600 1st Ave, Floor 1, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
³ School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8501, Japan.
⁴ Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, 5322 Endo, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa 252-0882, Japan.

Abstract

One goal of origins of life research is to understand how primitive informational and catalytic biopolymers emerged and evolved. Recently, a number of sequencing techniques have been applied to analysis of replicating and evolving primitive biopolymer systems, providing a sequence-specific and high-resolution view of primitive chemical processes. Here, we review application of sequencing techniques to analysis of synthetic and primitive nucleic acids and polypeptides. This includes next-generation sequencing of primitive polymerization and evolution processes, followed by discussion of other novel biochemical techniques that could contribute to sequence analysis of primitive biopolymer driven chemical systems. Further application of sequencing to origins of life research, perhaps as a life detection technology, could provide insight into the origin and evolution of informational and catalytic biopolymers on early Earth or elsewhere.

Keywords: Astrobiology; Biopolymers; Chemical Evolution; Display methods; Next-Generation Sequencing; Origin of Life.

Publication types

Review