Synthetic DNA and RNA seen to evolve

The discovery that synthetic DNA and RNA can evolve like their natural counterparts could bring artificial life one step closer, U.S. scientists say.
DNA is built using deoxyribose sugars and RNA with ribose, but scientists have discovered how to replace these sugars with six others to create synthetic genetic chains called xeno-nucleic acids or XNAs.
The synthetic XNAs can share information with natural DNA and one, anhydrohexitol nucleic acid, can undergo evolution and become biologically useful forms, they said.
The findings could shed new light on questions concerning the origins of life, researchers said.