Figure 4.

A; non-templated polymerization driving the initial pre-RNA world followed by emergence of ribozymes and eventual autocatalytic network of ribozymes in the Early-RNA world. Specific events are highlighted in cartoons from the non-templated formation of ribonucleotide oligomers to the formation of ribozymes in the later stages and their integration into networks B. This graph, adapted from “autocatalytic chemical networks preceded proteins and RNA in evolution” [32], depicts the influence of individual monomeric molecules and the combinatory size of the conglomeration on the size of the RAF generated.