英ケンブリッジ大学などに所属する研究者らがScience誌に発表した論文「A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand」は、たった45塩基の短いRNAが自己複製能力を持つことを実証した研究報告だ。

A 45-nucleotide strand of RNA can now synthesize both its mirror-image complement and a copy of itself, bringing scientists closer than ever to demonstrating how life could have emerged from chemistry ...