Controversies in Science/RNA world vs metabolism first/A Critique of Origin of Self-Replicating Biopolymers: Autocatalytic Feedback Can Jump-Start the RNA World

(Journal article) Cited in RNA world vs metabolism first

Life as we know was formed from an RNA world with life based on self-replicating biopolymers. If life was created from biopolymers, the metabolism theory would be incorrect because biopolymers are not rocks. Biopolymers are molecules that could have been found in places like ponds or beneath a desert floor where there is moisture.

Points Made

Life as we know was formed from an RNA world with life based on self-replicating biopolymers. If life was created from biopolymers, the metabolism theory would be incorrect because biopolymers are not rocks. Biopolymers are molecules that could have been found in places like ponds or beneath a desert floor where there is moisture. When RNA begins reproducing it starts out as a steady state and then the polymers concentration greatly increases. The first ribozymes that are created do not need to be perfect. A fully autocatalytic metabolic system does not work as the information in those molecules are not stored in sequence.

Methods

A set of chemical reaction equations describing synthesis of RNA polymers was used. Wu and Higgs used a stochastic simulation in a finite volume to back the points made in the article.

Potential Biases

The math used in the equations to back the evidence could have been done incorrectly. There could have been an error in a program or process in stochastic simulation. The numbers used are hypothetical and not fact biasing the calculations. Also, the stochastic simulation is done in a finite volume where the volume is hypothetical. There are also the personal biases such as money, recognition, and an extremist view against the metabolism theory.

References

The Physics arXiv Blog. (2012). The Single Theory That Could Explain Emergence, Organisation And The Origin of Life.