A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations
may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the
early Earth.
The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron
transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth. Because electron
transfer, the moving of an electron from one chemical species to another, is
involved in many biological processes – including photosynthesis, respiration
and the reduction of RNA to DNA – the study’s findings suggest that complex
biochemical transformations may have been possible when life began.