Article written by Taste for health

Summary: Trying to trace the chemical origins of life is no easy task.

It’s difficult to try and trace the chemical origins of life. There is first the question of defining what is or is not “life,” but there are also multiple theories that all make valid points. We can’t really say with certainty that life began this way or that way, but we can take some educated guesses based on what we currently know about medical science.

RNA

DNA is the building block of life, at least that’s what most of us hear in high school biology class. That’s true, but nature has a need for RNA polymers too. RNA can store information, just like DNA, and it is instrumental in the utilization of certain proteins in the body.

Therefore, we can guess with some level of certainty that the first “life” on earth contained RNA, or was made up of ribo polymers with RNA inside. Without these key components, it would be impossible to form peptide bonds.

We can also guess that the first living cell had the ability to replicate itself, and store information in the form of molecular interactions. In laymans terms, life’s persistence and our ability to inherit traits would be null and void without these abilities.

In fact, it’s possible that the earliest forms of life were constructed entirely of RNA. While we cannot say for certain that life had this appearance, or these characteristics, we do know that RNA played an instrumental role in the development of all life on this planet.

Bio: In addition to manufacturing custom oligos, The Midland Certified Reagent Company synthesizes a polynucleotide used in DNA and RNA reactions.