Theory that life on Earth arose from an RNA-DNA mixture

Scientists have figured out that a simple compound - diamidophosphate (DAP) - that was probably present on Earth before

the emergence of life, could chemically link together the tiny building blocks of DNA (deoxynucleosides) in the strands of primary DNA.

Diamidophosphate (DAP) is an ion that iswas used for the phosphorylation of sugars in aqueous media. Diamidophosphate can form salts such as sodium diamidophosphate or acidic phosphorodiamic acid. Phosphorodiamidic acid can crystallize as a trihydrate. It is assumed that this is a probable primary reagent in the appearance of the first peptides, lipids and nucleotides of cell membranes - the precursors of all life on Earth. In a press release from Scripps Research on November 6, 2017, DAP was described as "a compound that could play a critical role in the origin of life on Earth."

This and previous similar discoveries indicatethe possibility that DNA and its close chemical cousin, RNA, arose together as products of similar chemical reactions. It also proves that the first self-replicating molecules - the first life of a form on Earth - were a mixture of DNA and RNA.

The new discovery sheds light on how for the first timelife arose on Earth. In particular, the work of scientists at Scripps Research paves the way for more extensive research into exactly how self-replicating DNA-RNA mixtures could have developed and spread on ancient Earth and ultimately laid the foundation for the more mature biology of modern organisms.

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