In the "RNA World," How Could RNA Molecules Form Spontaneously

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The Answer is Components of RNA (nitrogenous bases) have been shown to spontaneously arise from inorganic chemicals. John Sutherland's work has shown that a ribonucleotide could be synthesized in the absence of an enzyme. The discovery of catalytic RNA (ribozymes) in the protist Tetrahymena has led to the idea that the earliest RNA components evolved to acquire proteins for enhanced molecular stability (reducing RNA's propensity to hydrolyze), and reductive evolution has substantially reduced the RNA subunit component associated with the evolved enzymatic proteins.

In the "RNA World," How Could RNA Molecules Form Spontaneously

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