A 45-nucleotide strand of RNA can now synthesize both its mirror-image complement and a copy of itself, bringing scientists ...

Scientists discover QT45, a self-replicating RNA molecule, offering insights into the origins of life on Earth.

Two separate laboratory breakthroughs have produced RNA molecules that can build copies of themselves or assemble functional structures without any help from proteins or DNA. These results offer the ...

Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge have discovered a ribozyme that is shockingly small, yet ...

These random molecules were fed a collection of three-base-long RNAs, each linked to a chemical tag. The idea was that if a molecule is capable of ligating one of these short RNA fragments to itself, ...

A strand of RNA just 45 nucleotides long has been discovered to perform two key reactions required for self-replication. The ...

One of the greatest mysteries of our planet is how a soup of lifeless chemicals transformed into the first living cell. There are several competing theories about where this happened, from frozen ...

Neurons have a "hibernation mode." Scientists discover how brain cells use RNA tentacles to lock their protein factories together to survive when energy is low.

While great strides have been made in exploring the world of RNA, mysteries remain—and one approach to solving them is to look at what exactly a strand of RNA is doing in a cell in real time. At a ...