RNA molecules are like instructions for living things. They can store information and help make proteins. Scientists think that RNA was one of the first molecules of life, but they don’t know how it was made.
In this study, they did some experiments to find out. They used some chemicals called ribonucleoside triphosphates, which are like building blocks for RNA. They also used some rocks that were similar to the ones that existed on Earth billions of years ago, when life began. They mixed the chemicals and the rocks together and waited to see what would happen.
They found that the chemicals stuck together and formed long chains of RNA. The RNA chains had an average length of 100 to 300 units, and they had a special type of bond between them. The scientists used different methods to confirm that the chains were really RNA. The RNA chains stayed in the mixture for a long time, and they were made at a slow but steady rate.
These results suggest that RNA could have been made in a similar way on early Earth, if there were enough ribonucleoside triphosphates around. Some other scientists have proposed ways that these chemicals could have been made on early Earth, so this study adds an important piece to the puzzle of how life started.
Note: abstract translated into English using GPT-4