Nucleic acid analogues and the origins of replication. |
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| Authors: | A W Schwartz |
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| Institution: | Laboratory for Exobiology, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. |
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| Abstract: | Recent interest in the properties of "nucleic acid-like structures" has been stimulated by difficulties encountered in the synthesis and nonenzymatic oligomerization of nucleotides. However, none of the newly proposed monomers has yet been synthesized in a plausibly prebiotic manner. Arguments are presented that analogues based on 8-hydroxymethyladenine and 5-hydroxymethyluracil are promising candidates for primitive nucleotide precursors. |
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