The generation and faithful replication of genetic information is crucial for life. These processes must have first occurred without enzymes. We show how the kinetics of non-enzymatic polymerization could allow faithful copying of sequences long enough to be ribozymes. In addition, we study how sequences with high compositional diversity, like ribozymes, could arise in spite of asymmetric reaction rates. We further investigate the informational consequences of the 'genetic takeover' of the RNA world by DNA. These projects address how prebiotic chemical mechanisms might produce information-rich sequences.

Information and diversity in prebiotic replicators

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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