Chemical origin of life articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Heat flows through thin, crack-like geo-compartments are shown to purify previously mixed compounds and enhance their reactivity, providing a selective mechanism for separating molecules relevant to the chemical origins of life.

    • Thomas Matreux
    • , Paula Aikkila
    •  & Christof B. Mast

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measurements of  isomerization rates  of CO isotopologues on an NaCl surface show a nonmonotonic mass dependence that arises from  resonantly enhanced cross-barrier coupling, or ‘tunnelling gateways’, which  are intrinsic to condensed-phase tunnelling.

    • Arnab Choudhury
    • , Jessalyn A. DeVine
    •  & Alec M. Wodtke

  • Article |

    A methyltransferase ribozyme, along with the small-molecule cofactor O6-methylguanine, is shown to catalyse the site-specific installation of 1-methyladenosine in various RNAs, providing insights into the catalytic abilities of RNA.

    • Carolin P. M. Scheitl
    • , Mohammad Ghaem Maghami
    •  & Claudia Höbartner

  • Article |

    A prebiotic synthesis of the purine DNA nucleosides (deoxyadenosine and deoxyinosine) in which the pyrimidine RNA nucleosides (cytidine and uridine) persist has implications for the coexistence of DNA and RNA at the dawn of life.

    • Jianfeng Xu
    • , Václav Chmela
    •  & John D. Sutherland

  • Letter |

    Prebiotic peptide formation is achieved through chemoselective, high-yielding ligation of α-aminonitriles in water, showing selectivity for α-peptide coupling and tolerance of all proteinogenic amino acid residues.

    • Pierre Canavelli
    • , Saidul Islam
    •  & Matthew W. Powner

  • Letter |

    In situ infrared spectroscopy maps the occurrences of chemical bonds within tiny inclusions in 3,700-million-year-old metasedimentary rocks from West Greenland, finding greater evidence for organic life at this early date.

    • T. Hassenkam
    • , M. P. Andersson
    •  & M. T. Rosing

  • Article |

    This study identifies a clade of archaea that is the immediate sister group of eukaryotes in phylogenetic analyses, and that also has a repertoire of proteins otherwise characteristic of eukaryotes—proteins that would have provided the first eukaryotes with a ‘starter kit’ for the genomic and cellular complexity characteristic of the eukaryotic cell.

    • Anja Spang
    • , Jimmy H. Saw
    •  & Thijs J. G. Ettema

  • Books & Arts |

    Clifford P. Brangwynne and Anthony A. Hyman celebrate the first book to plausibly suggest how life began.

    • Tony Hyman
    •  & Cliff Brangwynne

  • News & Views |

    The origin of life on Earth remains one of the great unsolved mysteries. A new study suggests that cooperation among molecules could have contributed to the transition from inanimate chemistry to biology. See Article p.72

    • James Attwater
    •  & Philipp Holliger

  • Books & Arts |

    Robert Shapiro on a reminder that laboratory experiments don't always translate to nature.

    • Robert Shapiro

  • Muse |

    If heat is needed to kickstart life, water may be the only crucible, argues Philip Ball.

    • Philip Ball

  • Letter |

    Thermophilic bacteria and archaea use carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide as a starting material for making the organic substances used in cellular molecules. A central enzyme in this pathway has now been discovered, namely fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase/phosphatase. This enzyme might represent the ancestral gluconeogenic enzyme.

    • Rafael F. Say
    •  & Georg Fuchs

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