New articles were published at the end of the 2017 about "chicken-the-egg" question: which organic molecules were the first: nucleotides or amino acids. RNA world is still the predominant theory, but new studies on proteins could change that.

1. Origin Life Hypotheses
By Peter Egorov

2. Proteins-or-the-nucleotides
question

3. Some historic events
1967 – the concept of RNA as a primordial molecule - “The
Genetic Code” by Carl Woese and papers by Francis Crick and
Leslie Orgel
1986 – the phrase "RNA World" was first used by Nobel
laureate Walter Gilbert and thereafter RNA World hypothesis is
widely accepted
2002 – [GADV]-protein world hypothesis was proposed by
Ikehara
2017 (November 2) – HP model by Ken Dill (proposed in 1985)
2017 (October 24) – peptide-RNA theory by Charles W. Carter
Jr and Peter R. Wills

4. RNA world
Is still the most favored theory
Became worldwide accepted after the discovery of RNA
catalytic functions in 1980-s.
Some Drawbacks:
It is difficult to prebiotically synthesize nucleotides
RNA enzymes don’t adjust well to the sorts of temperature
changes that would likely have been occurring as the
early Earth cooled.

5. Miller’s experiment
Results:
20 different amino acids
Adenine in 1960 by Juan Oro
and later other bases
Bottom-line:
Amino acids were synthesized in
greater amount in prebiotic soup
experiments than nucleotides

6. HP model
Ronald Zuckermann
Elizaveta Guseva
Ken Dill
HP model - hydrophobic-polar protein-folding
model
Ken Dill developed it in 1985
He studies foldable polymers (foldamers)
On the diagram later: foldamers are assortments of
all possible red-and-blue necklaces up to 25 beads
in length

7. Results in HP model
2.3 percent became compact foldamer structures
12.7 percent of those (0.3 percent of the original set)
fold into conformations that expose a hydrophobic
patch of red beads on their surface.

9. Autocatalytic Origami
Foldamers either directly or indirectly catalyze the
formation of copies of themselves
Sets are rare, BUT the number of these molecules would
grow exponentially and eventually take over the
prebiotic soup.
“It’s like lighting a match and setting a forest fire,” said Dill

10. Miracle of life
“That’s the whole magic of it, the ability of a
small event to leverage itself to much bigger
events.”
Ken
Dill

11. Questions:
In your opinion, what could be considered as the
beginning of life?
There is an important biomolecule, like a bridge, in
protein-nucleotide relation. What is this molecule? Why it
could be important in discussions about origin theories?

12. References:
1. ADAM S. “GADV- PROTEIN WORLD HYPOTHESIS
(ORIGIN OF LIFE).” LinkedIn SlideShare, 9 Mar. 2015,
www.slideshare.net/adammbbs/gadv-protein-world-hypothesis-origin-of-
life.
2. Cepelewicz, ByJordana. “Life's First Molecule Was Protein, Not
RNA, New Model Suggests.” Quanta Magazine, 2 Nov. 2017,
www.quantamagazine.org/lifes-first-molecule-was-protein-not-rna-new-
model-suggests-
20171102/?utm_content=bufferb8ac8&utm_medium=social&utm_source
=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer.
3. "Miller-Urey Experiment." World of Microbiology and
Immunology. . Encyclopedia.com. 24 Dec.
2017 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>

13. Worth reading
1. Andras Peter and Andras Csaba. “Protein interaction world
– an alternative hypothesis about the origins of life.”
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.317.9480&rep=r
ep1&type=pdf
2. Ikehara, Kenji. “[GADV]-Protein World Hypothesis on the
Origin of Life.” Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, Springer
Netherlands, 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4428654/.
3. Ktori, Sophia. “Ancient Enzymes Hint at Alternative
Origins of Life on Earth.” GEN, 2 Nov. 2017, www.genengnews.com/gen-
news-highlights/ancient-enzymes-hint-at-alternative-origins-of-life-on-
earth/81255120 .