![]() ![]() During replication, mutations are introduced, and occasional recombination deletes replicase-encoded regions to generate a parasitic RNA that replicates by exploiting replicases derived from other RNAs (replicase-encoding “host” RNAs). ![]() Previously, we constructed an RNA that replicates using an RNA replicase translated from itself 27. Thus, it has remained an open question whether a single molecular replicator can evolve into a complex replicator network. 23 was an exception, but they used a predefined replicator network to initiate evolution, which was also limited to the short-term. Although considerable efforts have been made to design interactions among these replicators 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, spontaneous complexification was generally precluded due to their inability to undergo Darwinian evolution through continuous mutation accumulation and natural selection. To date, diverse molecular replicators have been constructed based on biomaterials such as DNA, RNA, and peptides 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Although several theoretical studies investigated the possibility of complexification 9, 10, 11 and stable coexistence 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 of molecular replicators, empirical demonstration has been challenging. ![]() An expected route for complexification is that novel RNA replicators successively emerged and co-replicated so that increased genetic information can be stored at a population level, before their assembly into a long genome 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. ![]() How molecular replicators could develop complexity by continuously expanding information and functions is a central issue in prebiotic evolution 4, 5. An origins-of-life scenario depicts Darwinian evolution from self-replicating molecules, such as RNA, toward complex living systems 1, 2, 3. ![]()
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