Origins Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
Department of Chemistry, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland, Oregon 97207, USA.
Nat Rev Genet. 2015 Jan;16(1):7-17. doi: 10.1038/nrg3841. Epub 2014 Nov 11.
The RNA World concept posits that there was a period of time in primitive Earth's history - about 4 billion years ago - when the primary living substance was RNA or something chemically similar. In the past 50 years, this idea has gone from speculation to a prevailing idea. In this Review, we summarize the key logic behind the RNA World and describe some of the most important recent advances that have been made to support and expand this logic. We also discuss the ways in which molecular cooperation involving RNAs would facilitate the emergence and early evolution of life. The immediate future of RNA World research should be a very dynamic one.
RNA 世界假说认为，在原始地球的历史上，大约 40 亿年前，主要的生命物质是 RNA 或类似的化学物质。在过去的 50 年里，这个想法已经从推测发展成为一个主流观点。在这篇综述中，我们总结了 RNA 世界假说背后的关键逻辑，并描述了一些最近取得的重要进展，这些进展支持并扩展了这一逻辑。我们还讨论了涉及 RNA 的分子协作如何促进生命的出现和早期进化。RNA 世界研究的未来应该是非常活跃的。
