Amplification of RNA by an RNA polymerase ribozyme
Abstract
Darwinian life requires the ability to replicate genotypes and express phenotypes. Although all extant life relies on protein enzymes to accomplish these tasks, life in the ancestral RNA world would have used only RNA enzymes. Here, we report the in vitro evolution of an improved RNA polymerase ribozyme that is able to synthesize structured functional RNAs, including aptamers and ribozymes, and replicate short RNA sequences in a protein-free form of the PCR. Thus, the replication of RNA and the expression of functional RNA can be accomplished with RNA alone. Combining and improving these activities may enable the self-sustained evolution of RNA and offers a potential route to a synthetic form of RNA life.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- August 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1610103113
- Bibcode:
- 2016PNAS..113.9786H