How are self-replicating molecules, such as RNA molecules in the “RNA World” hypothesis, essential to the most popular hypotheses about the origin of life on Earth?

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anonymous · Answer

can some one pls help me

obeysoph▲ · Answer

Self-replicating molecules such as RNA molecules in the “RNA World” hypothesis are essential to the most popular hypotheses about the origin of life on Earth because of the functions they’re believed to carry out. RNA molecules are believed to self-catalyze, and by doing so this opens the possibility that early RNA molecules could self-replicate without the aid of other organisms.  If this was such a case—if RNA molecules could replicate and create more RNA molecules—this supports why all organisms share the same genetic code, and thus, aids in the RNA hypothesis.