Simultaneous origin of homochirality, the genetic code and its directionality.

The origin of homochirality in molecules characterizing living systems has remained a mystery since Pasteur's recognition of the problem some 150 years ago.(2-5) Most theories also assume that homochirality emerged in one class of molecules (e.g. ribose) from which it was enriched in other molecules (e.g. amino acids) as well.(2-5)I propose a novel, experimentally testable hypothesis describing a process by which selective chirality in amino acids and ribonucleotides emerged simultaneously and hand-in-hand with the origin and directionality of the genetic code within a system of interactions involving amino acids, peptides, nucleotide bases, their sugars and polynucleotides. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.