Possible Building Blocks of Ancient Genetic Systems (material, chemistry, Google)

[Brian.Pearson]

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming -- Scientists believe that prior to the advent of DNA as the earth’s primary genetic material, early forms of life used RNA to encode genetic instructions. What sort of genetic molecules did life rely on before RNA?

The answer may be AEG, a small molecule when linked into chains form a hypothetical
backbone for Peptide Nucleic Acids, which have been hypothesized as the first genetic
molecules. Synthetic AEG has been studied by the pharmaceutical industry as a possible genesilencer
to stop or slow certain genetic diseases. The only problem with the theory is that up to
now, AEG has been unknown from nature.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by Brian.Pearson

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming -- Scientists believe that prior to the advent of DNA as the earth’s primary genetic material, early forms of life used RNA to encode genetic instructions. What sort of genetic molecules did life rely on before RNA?

The answer may be AEG, a small molecule when linked into chains form a hypothetical
backbone for Peptide Nucleic Acids, which have been hypothesized as the first genetic
molecules. Synthetic AEG has been studied by the pharmaceutical industry as a possible genesilencer
to stop or slow certain genetic diseases. The only problem with the theory is that up to
now, AEG has been unknown from nature.

I can't comment on the quality of the research, but the press release is god awful. It does not explain anything, and fails to mention the most important bit of information... what does AEG stand for?

[Brian.Pearson]

Here's another site that may be a bit earlier -- not sure about the timeline.

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

I can't comment on the quality of the research, but the press release is god awful. It does not explain anything, and fails to mention the most important bit of information... what does AEG stand for?

Well from the link within the link I assume it means this - N-(2-Aminoethyl)Glycine