TNA: A Possible RNA Precursor & Abiogenesis Insight

  • Thread starter Thread starter Phobos
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Rna
AI Thread Summary
Threose nucleic acid (TNA) has emerged as a potential precursor to RNA, distinguished by its use of the simpler sugar threose instead of deoxyribose or ribose. Recent research indicates that TNA can be assembled by natural enzymes, suggesting its viability in the context of abiogenesis. However, the current understanding of TNA, along with other nucleic acid analogs like glycol nucleic acid (GNA) and peptide nucleic acid (PNA), lacks substantial experimental evidence to support their roles in the origin of life. This discussion highlights the ongoing exploration of alternative nucleic acids and their implications for understanding the early biochemical processes that may have led to life on Earth.
Phobos
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
1,956
Reaction score
7
Just heard about this...anyone have more familiarity/info? Does this provide any insight into abiogenesis?

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993972

You have heard of DNA and RNA, but what about TNA? It resembles its more famous cousins in almost every respect, except that it is based on a sugar called threose instead of the deoxyribose found in DNA and the ribose in RNA. Researchers have speculated that because threose is a simpler sugar than ribose, TNA could be a long-lost precursor to RNA.
… has shown that TNA can be assembled by natural enzymes.
 
Biology news on Phys.org
Threose nucleic acid (TNA), glycol nucleic acid (GNA), and PNA, lack experimental evidence for their respective abiogenesis.
 
  • Like
Likes KenJackson

Thread 'Chagas disease now established in US'

Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S. According to articles in the Los Angeles Times, "Chagas disease, long considered only a threat abroad, is established in California and the Southern U.S.", and "Kissing bugs bring deadly disease to California". LA Times requires a subscription. Related article -...
View full post »

Thread 'I need help understanding this quote about recent Natural Selection'

I am reading Nicholas Wade's book A Troublesome Inheritance. Please let's not make this thread a critique about the merits or demerits of the book. This thread is my attempt to understanding the evidence that Natural Selection in the human genome was recent and regional. On Page 103 of A Troublesome Inheritance, Wade writes the following: "The regional nature of selection was first made evident in a genomewide scan undertaken by Jonathan Pritchard, a population geneticist at the...
View full post »

Similar threads

How did RNA and complex enzymes emerge for DNA/RNA replication?
Replies
3
Views
4K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 257)
Replies
5
Views
4K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top