Small enzyme-mimicking polymers may have helped start life

Most effort in origins of life research is focused on understanding the prebiotic formation of biological building blocks. However, it is possible early biological evolution relied on different chemical structures and processes, and these were replaced gradually over time by aeons of evolution. Recently, chemists Irena Mamajanov, Melina Caudan and Tony Jia at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) in Japan borrowed ideas from polymer science, drug delivery, and biomimicry to explore this possibility. Surprisingly, they found that even small highly branched polymers could serve as effective catalysts, and these may have helped life get started.

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