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arXiv · 1105.3758

Emergence of information transmission in a prebiotic RNA reactor

B. Obermayer·H. Krammer·D. Braun·U. Gerland
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Abstract

A poorly understood step in the transition from a chemical to a biological world is the emergence of self-replicating molecular systems. We study how a precursor for such a replicator might arise in a hydrothermal RNA reactor, which accumulates longer sequences from unbiased monomer influx and random ligation. In the reactor, intra- and inter-molecular basepairing locally protects from random cleavage. By analyzing stochastic simulations, we find temporal sequence correlations that constitute a signature of information transmission, weaker but of the same form as in a true replicator.

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B. Obermayer, H. Krammer, D. Braun, U. Gerland. 2011-05-18. Emergence of information transmission in a prebiotic RNA reactor. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.107.018101

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