Prebiotic nucleic acids need space to grow

Daniel Whitaker; Matthew W Powner

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07221-x

Prebiotic nucleic acids need space to grow

Nat Commun. 2018 Dec 12;9(1):5172. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07221-x.

Authors

Daniel Whitaker¹, Matthew W Powner²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
² Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK. matthew.powner@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

What were the conditions on early Earth when nucleotides were formed, and what are the most plausible nucleoside candidates? Answering these questions will require mechanistic chemistry and planetary science to work together, enhancing not limiting each other's scope of investigation.

MeSH terms

Earth, Planet
Evolution, Chemical
Models, Chemical
Molecular Structure
Nucleic Acids / chemical synthesis
Nucleic Acids / chemistry*
Nucleosides / chemistry*
Nucleotides / chemistry*
Origin of Life*
Water / chemistry

Substances

Nucleic Acids
Nucleosides
Nucleotides
Water