Origins of the RNA-Protein World – Lost in Translation?

John Sutherland investigates how prebiotic chemistry could have shaped the partnership between RNA and proteins and the emergence of translation. Reactions combining hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide generate nucleotide and amino-acid precursors; environmental processes may provide the control needed for this chemistry to operate efficiently. The discussion follows these building blocks into more complex structures, examines experimental clues to a proposed second genetic code, and considers how the strength of codon–anticodon pairing could have influenced early assignments in the primary genetic code.