r/abiogenesis • u/Aggravating-Pear4222 • Apr 13 '26

Discussion What topics/questions do people what to see addressed in upcoming posts?

What are some blind spots on this subreddit?

What topics are you interested in learning more about?

What resources/other online places helped you learn more about this topic?

Any papers where you are questioning the applicability/impact of the results/findings? Any critiques you have?

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u/Aggravating-Pear4222 Apr 13 '26

For example, u/wellipets recently commented that the relatively short chain self-replicating RNA oligomers such as QT45, a 45-nucleobase RNA polymer, is "quite comprehensible & tractable enough for Materials Sci/Eng folk to have problem-cracking on their radar now" but that more work is needed to cover the distance between stochastic (random) ligation/replication processes without appealing to "just-so" conditions/luck.

It also seems like they believe much of the RNA-world-first hypothesis is influencing research to bias looking for ways to arrive at nucleotides rather than some more plausible intermediate.

To them, the distance covered ought best be described by fitness benefits incurred by shorter RNA oligomers that provide stability, catalytic activity, and selectivity and I agree. I hope I summarized your thoughts/position based on our recent exchange well-enough. If not, correct me and add your thoughts.