- University Zürich, Int of med Microbiology, Microbiology, Zürich, Switzerland (moelling@molgen.mpg.de)
The Early World was an RNA world and started with non-coding RNA, which we know today from viroids and ribozymes. Viroids/ribozymes are the most ancient entities which can replicate, undergo mutations and evolve. They may have been autonomous in the Early World, helping build up larger structures, protocells and cells. A model how life may have evolved has been designed by Manfred Eigen by demonstrating chemical evolution with prebiotic molecules. This occurs before the biological evolution of living matter. Furthermore, M. Eigen designed a Hypercycle, an abstract model where autocatalytic self-organization occurs, self-replicating members cooperate and are linked in a positive feedback loop. It can be applied to primordial RNA molecules such as ribozymes which are essential throughout evolution of life until today. What can one learn from such a principle for extraterrestrial origin of life?
How to cite: Dr.Moelling, K.: Life started by self-organization, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-3039, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-3039, 2026.