Compositional memory matters for early molecular systems | PNAS The error catastrophe refers to the proliferation of nonfunctional molecules in conditions where molecular replication has low accuracy, which is l...

Happy to share our new paper in @pnas.org! In collaboration with the David Lacoste lab at ESPCI Paris, we combine experiments and modeling to show how mixing-dependent “compositional memory” of compartments shapes replicase (host)–parasite RNA dynamics. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

What it takes to solve the origin of life: An integrated review. Part 1–Experimental methods and data repositories The Origin of Life Early Career Network (OoLEN) presents a comprehensive review of common techniques and methods used across diverse research on the origin(s) of life. Part one focuses on experimental...

Excited to share two review papers I co-authored with amazing colleagues worldwide, exploring diverse techniques in origins-of-life research.

Part 1: cell.com/cell-reports...

Part 2: cell.com/cell-reports...

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller?

Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase.
1/n

Selection–diversification interplay in oligonucleotide chemical evolution The emergence of catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) may have set the stage for an “RNA world” preceding protein evolution. The probability of ribozyme emergen …

Happy to share our new review on oligonucleotide chemical evolution on early Earth. We discuss how iterative sequence selection and diversification could have shaped RNA pools, facilitating sequence exploration and the emergence of ribozymes.
www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/biop...

1/27 We have a new paper out! Turns out that snowflake yeast have been hiding a secret from us - they've evolved a (very!) crude circulatory system. Not with blood vessels or a heart, but through spontaneous fluid flows powered by their metabolism. 🧪🔬

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

Lab stargazing night. A sky full of stars and the Milky Way over Mt. Fuji.