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Prebiotic synthesis of 5-substituted uracils: a bridge between the RNA world and the DNA-protein worldUnder prebiotic conditions, formaldehyde adds to uracil at the C-5 position to produce 5-hydroxymethyluracil with favorable rates and equilibria. Hydroxymethyluracil adds a variety of nucleophiles, such as ammonia, glycine, guanidine, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, imidazole, indole, and phenol, to give 5-substituted uracils with the side chains of most of the 20 amino acids in proteins. These reactions are sufficiently robust that, if uracil had been present on the primitive Earth, then these substituted uracils would also have been present. The ribozymes of the RNA world would have included many of the functional groups found in proteins today, and their catalytic activities may have been considerably greater than presently assumed.
Document ID
20050000192
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Robertson, M. P.
(University of California San Diego, La Jolla 92093, United States)
Miller, S. L.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
May 5, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: Science
Volume: 268
Issue: 5211
ISSN: 0036-8075
Subject Category
Exobiology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Program NSCORT
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Number 93-10
NASA Discipline Number 52-20
NASA Discipline Exobiology
NASA Program Exobiology

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