A synthetic approach to abiogenesis

Nature

A synthetic approach to abiogenesis"


Play all audios:

Loading...

ABSTRACT Synthetic biology seeks to probe fundamental aspects of biological form and function by construction (resynthesis) rather than deconstruction (analysis). Here we discuss how such an


approach could be applied to assemble synthetic quasibiological systems able to replicate and evolve, illuminating universal properties of life and the search for its origins. Access


through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal


Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per year only $21.58 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices


may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support


REFERENCES * Woese, C. _Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA_ 95, 6854–6859 (1998). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Davies, P.C. _Philos. Trans. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci._ 369, 624–632 (2011). Article 


CAS  Google Scholar  * Paddon, C.J. et al. _Nature_ 496, 528–532 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Leisner, M., Bleris, L., Lohmueller, J., Xie, Z. & Benenson, Y. _Nat.


Nanotechnol._ 5, 666–670 (2010). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Gibson, D.G. et al. _Science_ 329, 52–56 (2010). CAS  Google Scholar  * Greiss, S. & Chin, J.W. _J. Am. Chem. Soc._ 133,


14196–14199 (2011). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Prescher, J.A., Dube, D.H. & Bertozzi, C.R. _Nature_ 430, 873–877 (2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Marlière, P. et al. _Angew.


Chem. Int. Ed. Engl._ 50, 7109–7114 (2011). Article  Google Scholar  * Neumann, H., Wang, K., Davis, L., Garcia-Alai, M. & Chin, J.W. _Nature_ 464, 441–444 (2010). Article  CAS  Google


Scholar  * Lajoie, M.J. et al. _Science_ 342, 357–360 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Hirao, I., Kimoto, M. & Yamashige, R. _Acc. Chem. Res._ 45, 2055–2065 (2012). Article  CAS 


Google Scholar  * Rackham, O. & Chin, J.W. _Nat. Chem. Biol._ 1, 159–166 (2005). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Noireaux, V., Maeda, Y.T. & Libchaber, A. _Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.


USA_ 108, 3473–3480 (2011). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kurihara, K. et al. _Nat. Chem._ 3, 775–781 (2011). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Nourian, Z., Roelofsen, W. & Danelon, C.


_Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl._ 51, 3114–3118 (2012). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Stano, P., D'Aguanno, E., Bolz, J., Fahr, A. & Luisi, P.L. _Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl._ 52,


13397–13400 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Forster, A.C. & Church, G.M. _Mol. Syst. Biol._ 2, 45 (2006). Article  Google Scholar  * Benner, S.A., Ricardo, A. & Carrigan,


M.A. _Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol._ 8, 672–689 (2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Budin, I. & Szostak, J.W. _Annu. Rev. Biophys._ 39, 245–263 (2010). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  *


Szostak, J.W., Bartel, D.P. & Luisi, P.L. _Nature_ 409, 387–390 (2001). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Mercier, R., Kawai, Y. & Errington, J. _Cell_ 152, 997–1007 (2013). Article 


CAS  Google Scholar  * Lincoln, T.A. & Joyce, G.F. _Science_ 323, 1229–1232 (2009). THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF AUTONOMOUS AND EXPONENTIAL RNA SELF-COPYING. Article  CAS  Google Scholar 


* Vaidya, N. et al. _Nature_ 491, 72–77 (2012). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Johnston, W.K., Unrau, P.J., Lawrence, M.S., Glasner, M.E. & Bartel, D.P. _Science_ 292, 1319–1325 (2001).


THE FIRST DEMONSTRATION OF A GENERAL RNA-CATALYZED TEMPLATED REPLICATION ACTIVITY. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Wochner, A., Attwater, J., Coulson, A. & Holliger, P. _Science_ 332,


209–212 (2011). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Attwater, J., Wochner, A. & Holliger, P. _Nat. Chem._ 5, 1011–1018 (2013). AN RNA POLYMERASE RIBOZYME THAT CAN SYNTHESIZE RNAS LONGER THAN


ITSELF. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Ninio, J. & Orgel, L.E. _J. Mol. Evol._ 12, 91–99 (1978). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zhang, S., Blain, J.C., Zielinska, D., Gryaznov, S.M.


& Szostak, J.W. _Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA_ 110, 17732–17737 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Deck, C., Jauker, M. & Richert, C. _Nat. Chem._ 3, 603–608 (2011). Article  CAS


  Google Scholar  * Adamala, K. & Szostak, J.W. _Science_ 342, 1098–1100 (2013). TEMPLATED RNA SYNTHESIS WITHIN A PROTOCELL FACILITATED BY CITRATE. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  *


Szostak, J.W. _J. Syst. Chem._ 3, 2 (2012). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Zhu, T.F. & Szostak, J.W. _J. Am. Chem. Soc._ 131, 5705–5713 (2009). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Szostak,


J.W. _Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci._ 366, 2894–2901 (2011). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Bowler, F.R. et al. _Nat. Chem._ 5, 383–389 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  *


Engelhart, A.E., Powner, M.W. & Szostak, J.W. _Nat. Chem._ 5, 390–394 (2013). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Powner, M.W., Gerland, B. & Sutherland, J.D. _Nature_ 459, 239–242


(2009). A PREBIOTIC SYNTHESIS OF THE PYRIMIDINE RIBONUCLEOTIDES, PROVIDING KEY BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE RNA WORLD. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Mansy, S.S. & Szostak, J.W. _Proc. Natl.


Acad. Sci. USA_ 105, 13351–13355 (2008). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Moretti, J.E. & Müller, U.F. _Nucleic Acids Res._ 10.1093/nar/gkt1405 (21 January 2014). * Ichihashi, N. et al.


_Nat. Commun._ 4, 2494 (2013). Article  Google Scholar  * Baaske, P. et al. _Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA_ 104, 9346–9351 (2007). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Attwater, J., Wochner, A.,


Pinheiro, V.B., Coulson, A. & Holliger, P. _Nat. Commun._ 1, 76 (2010). Article  Google Scholar  * Koga, S., Williams, D.S., Perriman, A.W. & Mann, S. _Nat. Chem._ 3, 720–724 (2011).


Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kim, G.H., Klotchkova, T.A. & Kang, Y.M. _J. Cell Sci._ 114, 2009–2014 (2001). CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Rasmussen, S. et al. _Science_ 303, 963–965


(2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Cooper, G.J. et al. _Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl._ 50, 10373–10376 (2011). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Pinheiro, V.B. et al. _Science_ 336,


341–344 (2012). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Szathmáry, E. _Nat. Rev. Genet._ 4, 995–1001 (2003). Article  Google Scholar  * Attwater, J. et al. _Chem. Sci._ 4, 2804–2814 (2013). Article


  CAS  Google Scholar  * Ameta, S., Winz, M.L., Previti, C. & Jäschke, A. _Nucleic Acids Res._ 42, 1303–1310 (2014). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Jiménez, J.I., Xulvi-Brunet, R.,


Campbell, G.W., Turk-MacLeod, R. & Chen, I.A. _Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA_ 110, 14984–14989 (2013). Article  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported


by a Homerton College, Cambridge, Junior Research Fellowship (J.A.) and by the Medical Research Council (programme number U105178804). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Philipp


Holliger and James Attwater are at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK., James Attwater & Philipp Holliger Authors * James Attwater View author


publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Philipp Holliger View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING


AUTHOR Correspondence to Philipp Holliger. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions


ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Attwater, J., Holliger, P. A synthetic approach to abiogenesis. _Nat Methods_ 11, 495–498 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2893 Download citation *


Published: 29 April 2014 * Issue Date: May 2014 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2893 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get


shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative


Trending News

Latests News

Top