European team unexpectedly finds clues to origin of life

Scientists studying RNA interference (RNAi), a recently discovered phenomenon with wide-ranging implications for biology and health, have stumbled upon what they believe may be an important clue to the origins of life itself. Researchers from Oxford and Helsinki University were studying the mechanism behind RNAi when they noticed that the core of the enzyme responsible for the process was strikingly similar to enzymes responsible for gene expression. Their find sheds light on the function of RNA and helps answers some puzzling questions biologists have faced for years.

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