What is the RNA World hypothesis?

The RNA world concept hypothesizes that about four billion years ago, the first genetic substance on Earth was the small, single-stranded RNA molecule.

Ribozyme, a type of RNA, can carry out many functions:

• Catalyze reactions (like enzymes do)

• Splices RNA by itself, without the need for proteins

• Removes its own introns during RNA processing

• Joins amino acids together to form a polypeptide during translation in ribosomes