Carlos Briones

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. These are known as the building blocks of life, but they cannot replicate themselves. To do so, they need the instructions provided by RNA. How this relationship began is still a mystery. Now, a British team has shown how it could have started from relatively simple conditions. According to the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature, ‘understanding the origin of protein synthesis is fundamental to understanding where life comes from.’

Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a group of astronomers has detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone. The detection has been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

The Karolinska Institute has awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking discoveries, which have radically changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, and made it possible to develop vaccines at unprecedented speed during the covid-19 pandemic.