Complex life evolved out of the chance coupling of small molecules

(University of the Witwatersrand) Very simple ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules (compounds similar to Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)) can join other RNA molecules to themselves though a chemical reaction called ligation. The random joining together of different pieces or RNA could give rise to a group of molecules able to produce copies of themselves and so kick start the process of life. Wits researchers discovered exactly how this was done.