Comment on humans in space

• gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  actually, what if viruses (free-swimming RNA) were the original form of life and proteins only developed later? then viruses would be the simplest possible organisms.

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  • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    That idea resembles the RNA world hypothesis, which proposes that early life may have consisted of self-replicating RNA molecules before DNA and proteins became dominant. RNA is remarkable because it can both store genetic information and catalyze some chemical reactions.

    The difficulty is with calling viruses the original life…

    Modern viruses are not just “free-swimming RNA.” They depend completely on living cells to reproduce. Even the simplest RNA viruses require a host cell’s ribosomes, enzymes, energy, and raw materials. Outside a cell, a virus is essentially inert. That makes it hard to imagine viruses existing before cells did.

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    • gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      has anyone ever built an artificial organism that only uses RNA with no proteins that is actually able to live in an inorganic environment?

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      • TheGoldenGod@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        No, as far as I’m aware.

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