Foundry scientist Ronn Zuckermann and user Ken Dill, have developed a new model that suggests that, rather than RNA, proteins were the first molecule of life. The researchers developed a computational model that explains how certain molecules fold and bind together to grow longer and more complex, leading from simple chemicals to primitive biological molecules. The research gives a testable hypothesis about early prebiotic polymers and their evolution.
Their research was published in a summer issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and has since been featured in Quanta Magazine and Scientific American.
To read the Quanta magazine article
To read the Scientific American article
