4 ms·
Is the formation of DNA from the proto cells you’re describing, not still a pretty big mystery?
by matt-attack 4y ago
Is the formation of DNA from the proto cells you’re describing, not still a pretty big mystery?
- HarHarVeryFunny 4y agoWell, that obviously would have been something that evolved too, from simple beginnings. The progression must have from proto-cells that formed and replicated due to general environmental factors (prevailing chemicals/polymers, wave/thermal agitation, etc), to ones that eventually did so progressively more due to their individual chemistry, to varying degrees of success. Any aspect of the chemistry of a particular "colony" of proto-cells that played a role in helping create/preserve the chemical contents and structure of these proto-cells could be regarded as the earliest precursors of RNA/DNA. For example, if the localized chemistry generated self-serving catalysts, or transformed environmental chemicals into others that helped stabilize or produce the proto-cell bubble/container, then these become the beginnings of a colony that is self-defining and beginning to differentiate itself - starting to encode it's own structure. For sure there's a long ways from these types of humble beginning to full blown RNA/DNA, but plenty of scope for the types of incremental improvement that would have driven evolution (better ability to utilize environmental chemicals and energy sources, better ability to survive environmental changes, better ability to replicate and disperse, etc, etc.).