ERC Starting Grant · 2018
Modern cellular life strictly depends on DNA as genetic material. However, a large body of evidence infers the existence of a previous, more primitive biology in which RNA also stored information in cellular entities. Recreating a living cellular fossil representing this transition from an ancient RNA world to modern DNA-based life would fundamentally advance our understanding of our biology’s history, and enable us to explore its biological properties experimentally. However, the reengineering of existing molecular systems into a viable doppelganger of the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) or one of its precursors is extremely challenging. I propose to use a novel, combined top-down…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.