cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/2147796
We identify "life" with the capability of self-replication plus some other features. In other conditions, for instance on other planets, it could be possible for self-replication to happen in a way different from the RNA/DNA-based one.
I remember stumbling, years ago, on research and papers that studied this kind of possibility. But I'm having a hard time finding the old references or new ones.
Do you have interesting papers and research material to share about this? Thank you!
I don't have specific papers but a lot of research into the origins of life on this planet go into that kind of thing! I know there have been interesting findings into using clay imprints for self replication, for instance
Got one! XNA. Here's an article example (boo behind a paywall).
It's available for free on a popular "scientific research paper file sharing site"[^1] if you search for its title.
[^1]: The founder of which just won an EFF Award a couple days ago!