Supramolecular or molecular gels are attractive for various applications, including
diagnostics, tissue scaffolding and targeted drug release. Gelators derived from natural …

Understanding how life arose is a fundamental problem of biology. Much progress has been
made by adopting a synthetic and mechanistic perspective on originating life. We present a …

The origins and evolution of the ribosome, 3–4 billion years ago, remain imprinted in the
biochemistry of extant life and in the structure of the ribosome. Processes of ribosomal RNA …

Self-replicating molecules are likely to have played a central role in the origin of life. Most
scenarios of Darwinian evolution at the molecular level require self-replicators capable of …

The ability of DNA to store and encode information arises from base pairing of the four-letter
nucleobase code to form a double helix. Expanding this DNA 'alphabet'by synthetic …

The aim of this article is to provide the reader with an overview of the different possible
scenarios for the emergence of life, to critically assess them and, according to the …

The self‐assembly into supramolecular polymers is a process driven by reversible non‐
covalent interactions between monomers, and gives access to materials applications …

The RNA World hypothesis presupposes that abiotic reactions originally produced
nucleotides, the monomers of RNA and universal constituents of metabolism. However …

The origin of nucleotides is a major question in origins-of-life research. Given the central
importance of RNA in biology and the influential RNA World hypothesis, a great deal of this …

Aqueous solutions of the achiral, monomeric, nucleobase mimics (2, 4, 6‐
triaminopyrimidine, TAP, and a cyanuric acid derivative, CyCo6) spontaneously assemble …