Thanks for the reference. As the other commenter mentioned, this is great research but I don’t see it as with odds with a molecule of RNA being the first living

Thanks for the reference. As the other commenter mentioned, this is great research but I don’t see it as with odds with a molecule of RNA being the first living thing ever. We didn’t discuss before what powered these RNA molecules, but clearly this research is showing us one aspect of it (preexisting metabolic pathway like reactions). These systems might be considered as evolving the same way the sun is evolving I suppose? In the end I would classify life as something that has encoded information on how to create itself and the machinery to do it (or at least the means to recruit the machinery and raw materials) and actually propagate itself perpetually in the right conditions. RNA is still the only viable candidate for that.