NASA Research Challenges RNA’s Role in Life’s Molecular Handedness Mystery

A current NASA-funded research has noticed findings concerning the molecular processes which may have formed the origins of life on Earth. Research printed in Nature Communications means that ribonucleic acid (RNA), a molecule believed to have predated DNA, reveals no inherent bias in producing the left- or right-handed variations of amino acids. This challenges long-standing assumptions about why life predominantly makes use of left-handed amino acids in its proteins, a phenomenon generally known as homochirality.

The Enigma of Molecular Handedness

Amino acids, the important constructing blocks of proteins, exist in two mirror-image kinds: left-handed and right-handed. Life on Earth solely depends on the left-handed selection, although there isn’t any obvious cause right-handed amino acids wouldn’t perform equally. This phenomenon has baffled scientists, because it seems to mirror a basic facet of biology. The present study, led by Irene Chen, a professor on the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, examined ribozymes—RNA molecules able to appearing like enzymes below early-Earth circumstances. The outcomes indicated that ribozymes might favour both handedness, undermining the notion that RNA inherently favoured the left-handed kind.

Implications for Life’s Early Evolution

The analysis concerned simulating primitive Earth circumstances, the place ribozymes had been uncovered to amino acid precursors. In 15 examined mixtures, no constant bias in the direction of left-handed amino acids was noticed. This discovery means that homochirality could have emerged via evolutionary processes somewhat than on account of RNA’s chemical preferences. Co-author Alberto Vázquez-Salazar, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar, famous that these findings suggest that life’s molecular handedness doubtless arose later in its improvement.

Future Research on Life’s Molecular Origins

Jason Dworkin, Senior Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, emphasised that understanding life’s molecular properties informs the seek for extraterrestrial life. Current evaluation of samples from asteroid Bennu, introduced again by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, consists of finding out amino acid handedness. Such investigations could uncover additional clues concerning the origin of homochirality and its position in life’s improvement.

The analysis was funded by NASA, the Simons Foundation, and the National Science Foundation, contributing helpful insights into considered one of life’s most profound mysteries.

 

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