T. H. Wright

Non-enzymatic assembly of active chimeric ribozymes from aminoacylated RNA oligonucleotides

This study shows aminoacylated RNAs can assemble into active chimeric ribozymes, suggesting aminoacylation may have aided ribozyme formation before ribosomes evolved.

A Potential Role for Aminoacylation in Primordial RNA Copying Chemistry

This study investigates whether aminoacylation could have facilitated nonenzymatic RNA replication, finding that aminoacylated RNAs enable faster primer extension and ligation reactions under protocell-like conditions.

Non-enzymatic primer extension with strand displacement

This study demonstrates non-enzymatic RNA primer extension through strand displacement using short RNA oligonucleotides, suggesting a prebiotic mechanism for RNA replication.

Prebiotically Plausible ‘Patching’ of RNA Backbone Cleavage Through a 3′-5′ Pyrophosphate Linkage

This study demonstrates that 3′-phosphate terminated RNA strands can participate in template-directed copying reactions to form stable pyrophosphate linkages, offering a non-enzymatic pathway for RNA strand recovery.