Abstract
Prompted by the growing number of reports about reactions catalyzed by ribozymes, this paper summarizes mechanistic and kinetic aspects of template-directed (TD) chemistry important for the synthesis of a diverse population of polynucleotides and analogues possibly up to 100 units long. Assuming that this chemistry takes place in a microenvironment conducive to life under the constant influx of mM concentrations of activated monomeric building blocks, the proposed scenario represents a working hypothesis for the prebiotic synthesis of the RNA world.
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Kanavarioti, A. Template-directed chemistry and the origins of the RNA world. Origins Life Evol Biosphere 24, 479–494 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01582032
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01582032