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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Nicholas Hud, Center for Chemical EvolutionResearchers from Georgia Institute of Technology may have made headway in helping determine the origin of life by identifying three different molecules that self-assemble to form a molecular structure with features characteristic of modern RNA. In the new study, researchers led by Nicholas Hud studied reactions in conditions that mimicked rain and evaporation cycles on the early Earth. They identified three candidates for the bases of proto-RNA: barbituric acid,melamine, and 2, 4, 6-triaminopyrimidine. Reactions with these molecules and the ribose sugar produced nucleosides, which are composite molecules that are close to the sub-units of RNA. Hud is a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the director of the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, based in Georgia Tech.
