Poster abstracts
Poster number 2 submitted by Saurja DasGupta
Drawing the RNA World: A Historical Inquiry into the Origins of Life through Comics
Argha Manna (Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar), Saurja DasGupta (2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame)
Abstract:
Almost 4 billion years ago, life took its first steps but who led the charge? Was it proteins, RNA, or DNA? Even the most rudimentary forms of life need to store and propagate genetic information and catalyze biochemical transformations. Extant life divides these tasks: DNA functions as the genetic molecule by carrying the molecular blueprint of the cell, which is used to make proteins that do the heavy lifting by performing the cell’s enzymatic functions. But a cell cannot make proteins by directly ‘reading’ its DNA; it needs to transcribe this information in the language of RNA, which can then be translated to make the corresponding proteins. But here’s the paradox: cells not only need enzymes made of proteins to copy the genetic information contained within DNA to RNA but also need RNA to make proteins. So, which came first: the chicken or the egg?
The most likely answer is RNA. Being the only molecule in biology known to both carry genetic information and catalyze reactions, it is the best candidate for running a more primitive version of biology that preceded the ‘DNA-RNA-Protein’ Central Dogma. This idea – dubbed the RNA World Hypothesis – came to the forefront in the 1980s, although it was decades in the making. The RNA World, which unfolds an image of a primordial Earth crawling with single-celled creatures animated by RNA enzymes and RNA genomes, is also the best scientific framework to investigate the origins of life. But how did human thought evolve over decades to this point where we, humans, can contemplate our own origins and conceptualize how our earliest ancestors looked like? What did they look like? How did the RNA World hypothesis drive modern research and innovation?
In this poster, we tried to find the answers through comics as a narrative device. This poster transforms the history of the RNA World into a visual narrative, using comics to illustrate key scientific breakthroughs and competing theories, and bring to life researchers who shaped them. By merging art and science, this ‘third culture’ approach makes abstract concepts more intuitive, engaging, and accessible to broader audiences, including students, researchers, and the curious public.
Because when it comes to understanding life’s origins, sometimes pictures are worth a billion years!
Keywords: RNA World, History of Science, Origins of Life