According to the RNA world hypothesis, life began when RNA molecules evolved the ability to make more copies of themselves. Now we have discovered an RNA molecule that is almost capable of this – it ...

Liquid brine veins, where RNA molecules can replicate, surround solid ice crystals in water ice, as seen with an electron microscope. Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have ...

They say that change takes time. Well, that's not the case for RNA. The small biological molecule acts like a switchboard operator, capable of changing its shape every few milliseconds so it can ...

Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have demonstrated how RNA (ribonucleic acid) might have replicated itself on early Earth—a key process in the origin of life. Scientists ...