Researchers demonstrated how amino acids could spontaneously attach to RNA under early Earth-like conditions using thioesters, providing a long-sought clue to the origins of protein synthesis. This ...

In the RNA world hypothesis, RNA was once solely responsible for the functions of life, which means RNA must have been able to make other RNA molecules with biological functions. Now, for the first ...

Life may have first emerged in deep sea thermal vents or surface hot springs (Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring is shown here). New research shows how high-energy thioesters could ...

Dr. Cech is a biochemist and the author of the forthcoming book “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” from which this essay is adapted. From E=mc² to splitting the atom ...