News From the Field
Early Earth Cells Modeled to Show How First Life-forms Might Have Packaged RNA

October 14, 2012

A chemical model that mimics a possible step in the formation of cellular life on Earth 4-billion years ago has been developed at Penn State University. Chemists created primitive, cell-like structures that they infused with RNA--the genetic coding material that is thought to precede the appearance of DNA on Earth--and demonstrated how the molecules would react chemically under conditions that might have been present on the early Earth. Full Story

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Penn State

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.

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