s. According to OSU research, the "dark state" essentially disappears in the presence of water.

So if water were present, the earliest DNA bases would have been able to survive and eventually help form the basis for ever-more-complex life forms. "In modern biological forms, it's not essential that water be present for DNA to have stability," Kong said. "There are other mechanisms that now exist in biology to accomplish that, and complex biological processes are possible that don't always require water. But in its most basic form, we now know that DNA bases are not stable and they are highly vulnerable to UV-induced damage." The findings suggest, Kong said, how water could have been an absolutely essential compound to allow early DNA bases to remain stable, resist mutation, and ultimately allow for the evolution of life. OSU researchers were the first to propose the "dark state" model and prove its existence.

"What this is really telling us is that life is a unified process," Kong said. "It's not just a group of DNA bases, but it's also the physical environment in which they exist. Later on, as life became more evolved, there were other ways to achieve genetic stability. But at first, it simply may not have been possible without water." Contact: Wei Kong wei.kong@oregonstate.edu 541-737-6714 Oregon State University Source: Eurekalrt
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