Adsorption of RNA on mineral surfaces and mineral precipitates

• Elisa Biondi,
• Yoshihiro Furukawa,
• Jun Kawai and
• Steven A. Benner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 393–404, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.42

• minerals can have controlled compositions, they are often viewed as "unnatural". Here, we show how trends in the interaction of RNA with natural mineral specimens, synthetic mineral specimens, and co-precipitated pairs of synthetic minerals, can make a persuasive case that the observed interactions reflect

• sulfate minerals, where those trends are the same when measured in natural and synthetic minerals. They are also validated by comparison of co-precipitated synthetic minerals. We also show differential binding of RNA to polymorphic forms of calcium carbonate, and the stabilization of bound RNA on

• aragonite. These have relevance to the prebiotic stabilization of RNA, where such carbonate minerals are expected to have been abundant, as they appear to be today on Mars. Keywords: carbonates; natural minerals; origins of life; RNA adsorption; synthetic minerals; Introduction It has been nearly 70 years