{"525171":{"#nid":"525171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Missing Links Brewed in Primordial Puddles?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe crucibles that bore out early building blocks of life may have been, in many cases, modest puddles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/what-came-chicken-or-egg\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eresearchers working with that hypothesis\u003C\/a\u003E have achieved a significant advancement toward unlocking a longstanding evolutionary mystery -- how components of RNA and DNA formed from chemicals present on early Earth before life existed. It could also have implications on how astrobiologists view the probability of life elsewhere in the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn surprisingly simple laboratory reactions in water, under everyday conditions, they have produced what could be good candidates for missing links on the pathway to the code of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd when those components joined up, the result even looked like RNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the researchers\u2019 work progresses, it could reveal that much of the original chemistry that led to life arose not in fiery cataclysms and in scarce quantities, but abundantly and gradually on quiet, rain-swept dirt flats or lakeshore rocks lapped by waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research from the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/centerforchemicalevolution.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENSF\/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution\u003C\/a\u003E, headquartered at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is generously funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation and NASA. The recent results \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/ncomms\/2016\/160425\/ncomms11328\/full\/ncomms11328.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewere published on April 25, 2016 in \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPursuing the origins specifically of RNA, the close chemical relative of DNA, a research team led by Nicholas Hud, a professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;at the Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the CCE, worked with a pair of potential chemical ancestors of the nucleobases of RNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor roughly half a century, scientists have hypothesized that life, which uses DNA to store genetic information, was preceded by life forms that used RNA very broadly. And RNA may have had a precursor, \u003Cem\u003Eproto-\u003C\/em\u003ERNA, with different but similar nucleotides (the \u201cN\u201d in RNA).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEarly Earth was a messy laboratory where probably many molecules like those needed for life were produced. Some survived and prospered, while others eventually vanished,\u201d Hud said. \u201cThat goes for the ancestors of RNA, too.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing two molecules known as barbituric acid and melamine, the researchers formed proto-nucleotides so strongly resembling two of RNA\u2019s nucleotides that it is tempting to speculate that they are indeed their ancestors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two ingredients would have been readily abundant for reactions on a prebiotic Earth, Hud said.\u0026nbsp; \u201cAnd they would have been well suited for primitive information coding,\u201d he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of the resemblances and properties, some scientists already have speculated on an ancestral role for melamine and barbituric acid.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the CCE scientists are careful not to jump to that conclusion just yet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo claim ancestry, we would have to show a mechanism by which these nucleotides we made in the lab could turn into the existing nucleotides in RNA,\u201d said Ram Krishnamurthy, Hud\u2019s collaborator from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scripps.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; \u201cIt\u2019s a complex path that we\u2019d have to at least design on paper, and we\u2019re not there.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENonetheless, he\u2019s exited about the results. \u201cThere are umpteen possibilities of how that mechanism could have happened. Barbituric acid and melamine may have been place holders that dropped out and allowed adenine and uracil to come together with ribose.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFiguring out how adenine and uracil (nucleobases found in RNA today) combined with the sugar ribose (corresponding to the \u201cR\u201d in RNA) could answer one of the great questions of chemical evolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe formation of nucleotides from possible proto-nucleobases and ribose marks a significant advancement in research on the origin of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENucleobases have been combined with other sugars in past studies, but the efficiency of the reactions discovered in this study is much greater than those of that past.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re getting close to molecules that look the way life may have looked in early stages,\u201d Krishnamurthy said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA series of surprises added to the reactions\u2019 scientific significance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst, they occurred quickly and the resulting nucleotides spontaneously paired with each other in water, forming hydrogen bonds like the Watson-Crick base pairs that create the \u201cladder-rung\u201d pattern inside RNA and DNA helixes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen the monomers formed long, supramolecular assemblages that look like strands of RNA when viewed with a high resolution microscope.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere has been no reported chemical reaction so far that has produced existing components of RNA under commonplace circumstances that spontaneously form Crick-Watson pairs in water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd up until now, there had also been no report of a similar pair of nucleotides, like those produced with barbituric acid and melamine, behaving in a like manner, making this another first.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt works even better then we thought,\u201d Hud said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost too easy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere was one small caveat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe reaction does not work as well if barbituric acid and melamine are present in the same solution before reacting with ribose because their strong attraction for each other can cause them to precipitate,\u201d Hud said. So, the scientists completed the reaction involving barbituric acid separately from the one involving melamine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut that should not have proven prohibitive on prebiotic Earth. Barbituric acid and melamine nucleotides could have been formed in separate locations, even in the same pond. And they could have very well been plentiful.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese reactions are exceptionally productive, especially if you compare them to analogous reactions with existing RNA components, which do not produce any nucleotides under the same conditions,\u201d Hud said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf melamine and barbituric acid formed their respective nucleotides (C-BMP for barbituric acid and MMP for melamine) in separate puddles on the early Earth, then rain could have easily washed the components together, where they would have rapidly assembled into what could have been a precursor to proto-RNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe question is: Can these self-assemblies make the transition into what makes up life today,\u201d Krishnamurthy said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope their work will help expand the scientific community\u2019s approach to chemical evolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you want to look at what brought about these properties of life you have to go back and consider all the other molecules that would have been present and see how they would have facilitated the molecules that are present in life today,\u201d Krishnamurthy said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir work also could serve as a basis for important practical applications, such as the creation of DNA or RNA-like polymers that could spawn production of advanced materials and therapeutic agents.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe chemical reactions that produce the barbituric acid and melamine nucleotides don\u2019t require the use of enzymes and extreme parameters like high heat and pressure. Reminiscent of click chemistry, they could contribute to safe, cost-effective and abundant industrial production.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already named, the paper\u2019s authors include Brian J. Cafferty, David M. Fialho and Jaheda Khanam, all from Georgia Tech.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was\u0026nbsp;supported by\u0026nbsp;the NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation Program and the NASA Astrobiology Program under the NSF\/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution\u0026nbsp;under grant number CHE-1004570. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or NASA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ben Brumfield (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDid it take cataclysmic events like asteroid impacts and underwater volcanic eruptions to create the fist molecules of life, or were many formed quietly in puddles? Researchers working on that latter hypothesis alluding to Darwin\u0027s primodial puddle have created great candidates for precusors to RNA.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have created nucleotides very similar to those in RNA in surprisingly simple laboratory reactions in water, under everyday conditions. They have produced what could be good candidates for missing links on the pathway to the code of life."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-04-15 11:18:13","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:21","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"525161":{"id":"525161","type":"image","title":"NHud bartituric acid uracil models","body":null,"created":"1460995200","gmt_created":"2016-04-18 16:00:00","changed":"1475895296","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:56","alt":"NHud bartituric acid uracil models","file":{"fid":"206101","name":"nhud-barbituric-acid-uracil.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nhud-barbituric-acid-uracil.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nhud-barbituric-acid-uracil.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1269388,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nhud-barbituric-acid-uracil.jpg?itok=8PIdZOxC"}},"525141":{"id":"525141","type":"image","title":"Nicholas Hud proto-nucleotides ba melamine","body":null,"created":"1460995200","gmt_created":"2016-04-18 16:00:00","changed":"1548282895","gmt_changed":"2019-01-23 22:34:55","alt":"","file":{"fid":"206100","name":"nick-hud-ba-uracil.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nick-hud-ba-uracil_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nick-hud-ba-uracil_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1541843,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nick-hud-ba-uracil_0.jpg?itok=mFhuGUx4"}},"525201":{"id":"525201","type":"image","title":"NHud nucleotide assemblage gel","body":null,"created":"1461074400","gmt_created":"2016-04-19 14:00:00","changed":"1475895296","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:56","alt":"NHud nucleotide assemblage gel","file":{"fid":"205482","name":"nhud-nucleotide-assemblage.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nhud-nucleotide-assemblage_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nhud-nucleotide-assemblage_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1097167,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nhud-nucleotide-assemblage_0.jpg?itok=TDSt6vr8"}},"525221":{"id":"525221","type":"image","title":"Nicholas Hud supramolecular assemblage vile","body":null,"created":"1461074400","gmt_created":"2016-04-19 14:00:00","changed":"1475895296","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:56","alt":"Nicholas Hud supramolecular assemblage vile","file":{"fid":"206102","name":"nicholas-hud-vile-model.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nicholas-hud-vile-model.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nicholas-hud-vile-model.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1684841,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nicholas-hud-vile-model.jpg?itok=oRIg76GD"}},"525211":{"id":"525211","type":"image","title":"Hud proto-nucleotides assemblage","body":null,"created":"1461074400","gmt_created":"2016-04-19 14:00:00","changed":"1548282998","gmt_changed":"2019-01-23 22:36:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"205483","name":"nhud-supramolecular-assemblage.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nhud-supramolecular-assemblage_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nhud-supramolecular-assemblage_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1323594,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nhud-supramolecular-assemblage_0.jpg?itok=_FbYJbwC"}}},"media_ids":["525161","525141","525201","525221","525211"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170117","name":"barbituric acid"},{"id":"89971","name":"chemical evolution"},{"id":"170119","name":"melamine"},{"id":"4504","name":"Nicholas Hud"},{"id":"4848","name":"petit"},{"id":"171923","name":"proto-nucleotides"},{"id":"984","name":"RNA"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBen Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}