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Ragondux t1_jbnieqh wrote

Reply to comment by FrostReaver in I just learned that the known shortest DNA in an “organism” is about 1700 base pairs in a certain virus. Is there a minimum amount of “code” required for an organism (or virus) to function in any capacity? by mcbergstedt

There's even a theory that proteins appeared later, since RNA can do a lot of stuff by itself and have enzymatic functions.

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Beliriel t1_jbnsf2e wrote

Yeah the base pairs of RNA can spontaneously form in nature and RNA can act like an enzyme or protein itself. Last I heard, evidence strongly hints that the world was an RNA (single strand) world before double stranding and then the more stable DNA double helix developed. But it's not conclusive.

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HermanCainsGhost t1_jbon0d6 wrote

The “RNA world hypothesis” was what I was taught in my upper level genetics class back in 2004, so unless I am out of the loop and it has been discarded in the 20 years since, it sounds accurate to me

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