Early evolution: prokaryotes, the new kids on the block.

@article{Poole1999EarlyEP,
  title={Early evolution: prokaryotes, the new kids on the block.},
  author={Anthony M. Poole and D C Jeffares and David Penny},
  journal={BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology},
  year={1999},
  volume={21 10},
  pages={
          880-9
        }
}
  • A. PooleD. JeffaresD. Penny
  • Published 1 October 1999
  • Biology
  • BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology
Prokaryotes are generally assumed to be the oldest existing form of life on earth. This assumption, however, makes it difficult to understand certain aspects of the transition from earlier stages in the origin of life to more complex ones, and it does not account for many apparently ancient features in the eukaryotes. From a model of the RNA world, based on relic RNA species in modern organisms, one can infer that there was an absolute requirement for a high-accuracy RNA replicase even before… 
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