Abiotic RNA polymerization in early earth environments the RNA world hypothesis is an active area of investigation in the search for plausible pathways leading to the emergence of life on earth that…

This is a $437,506 grant award to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for research on abiotic RNA polymerization in early Earth environments. The research aims to investigate plausible pathways for the emergence of life on Earth and potential implications for extraterrestrial life, focusing on the challenge of achieving prebiotically feasible RNA polymerization. The project will explore alternative, more general and robust polymerization pathways based on an understanding of early Earth environments, particularly the role of minerals, pressure, fluid chemistry, pH, and temperature. The research program seeks to evaluate the potential for an RNA world to arise in various early Earth settings and elucidate the mechanisms and conditions leading to the formation of RNA polymers capable of autocatalysis and self-replication. This grant does not utilize a set-aside designation, reflecting RPI's competitive capabilities in securing federal research funding across a range of scientific disciplines.

Abiotic RNA polymerization in early earth environments the RNA world hypothesis is an active area of investigation in the search for plausible pathways leading to the emergence of life on earth that may also inform US about extraterrestrial life. One of the most significant challenges to an RNA world is the need for a prebiotically-plausible route to RNA polymerization that is consistent with our current understanding of environmental conditions on early earth. Although abiotic RNA polymerization has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments, the need in most cases for pre-activated nucleotides and very specific types of (pre-treated) montmorillonite clay catalysts raises concerns about the robustness of these pathways and their feasibility in the uncontrolled and unconstrained environments of prebiotic earth. This proposal seeks alternative pathways that are more general and robust, based on our current understanding of early earth environments. Our focus on mineralogy is based on the hypothesis that prebiotic polymerization occurred at the interfaces between aqueous solutions and solid, rocky surfaces, where minerals were available to facilitate chemical reactions through selective sequestration of reactants, templating of the polymerization products, and catalysis of the polymerization chemistry. Our introduction of pressure as an important experimental variable derives from the rich mineralogy found in high pressure, subsurface environments, and is supported by promising preliminary results. Other considerations, including fluid chemistry, PH, redox potential, and temperature, provide additional prebiotic context for these experiments. New experimental approaches to the analysis of the polymerization reaction products, combined with characterization of the mineral substances and their interactions with the nucleotide reactants and oligomer products, will elucidate the mechanisms that promote surface catalyzed RNA polymerization. This research program will evaluate the potential for an RNA world to be widespread across a variety of early earth environments, and unravel the mechanisms and environmental conditions that could lead to RNA polymers of sufficient length and appropriate sequence for autocatalysis and self-replication, eventually leading to the emergence of life.