Abstract:The macromolecules that encode and translate information in living systems, DNA and RNA, exhibit distinctive structural asymmetries, including homochirality or mirror image asymmetry and 3 -5 directionality, that are invariant across all life forms. The evolutionary advantages of these broken symmetries remain unknown. Here we utilize a very simple model of hypothetical self-replicating polymers to show that asymmetric autocatalytic polymers are more successful in self-replication compared to their symmetric c… Show more
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