Study Of Ribosome Evolution Challenges 'RNA World' Hypothesis

The "RNA world" hypothesis suggests that the first stages of molecular evolution involved RNA and not proteins, and that proteins (and DNA) emerged later. Now, researchers have found evidence that proteins were on the scene and interacting with RNA even before the ribosome's many working parts were recruited for protein synthesis. Just how proteins can be more ancient than the ribosomal machinery that today produces most of them has yet to be resolved.