Computational Exploration of the Chemical Space of Nucleic Acid-Like Compounds

Abstract

Biological information storage for life as we know it is carried out by the nucleic acids DNA and RNA. However, these may be optimized end-states for life on Earth, or there may be other types of molecules which are similarly capable of carrying out these functions, perhaps used in alien biochemistries or in earlier biochemical states. A number of these have already been synthesized in the lab, however the set of molecules compatible with this function may be far larger. Understanding this wider "chemical space" may give insights into what makes the biological isomers unique, as well as whether there are other isomers more easily accessed by abiotic chemistry.