RNA and proteins joined up at the origins of life: Persistence is the point.

A polymer-physics model predicts a Pareto Front where nucleic acids and proteins can bootstrap each other into autocatalytic cooperativity toward biology, outperforming either alone.

• Why it matters: The work addresses what could have made functional NA–PR partnerships more fit than using nucleic acids or proteins in isolation at life’s origins.
• What they did: The authors reason from polymer physics and the Central Dogma, modeling division of labor where NA supports replication fidelity and PR supports functional fitness.
• The result: The model implies mutual bootstrapping enables autocatalytic cooperativity, suggesting a route from coupled polymers to biology via cooperative fitness.

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