Why is it impossible for proteins to make copies of themselves?
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1$\begingroup$ Because they have no "blueprint" to work off of. DNA is the "set of directions" used to make new proteins. $\endgroup$– MattDMoApr 28, 2016 at 20:27
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1$\begingroup$ I mean you could argue that proteins do make copies of themselves, just not de novo. $\endgroup$– CKMApr 28, 2016 at 20:29
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2$\begingroup$ It is not impossible. It simply didn't evolve that way. $\endgroup$– WYSIWYGApr 28, 2016 at 21:25
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1$\begingroup$ I really don't think questions of the type "why is the world like this" are either answerable or useful. If you can offer a biological alternative and argue that it was equally feasible, that is a different matter. $\endgroup$– DavidApr 28, 2016 at 21:47
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$\begingroup$ If the question was "Are there proteins that are able to self-replicate?" everyone would be happy I suppose. @tesgoe you should rephrase your post. You could say that DNA is able to self-replicate to make a tiny bit of content to your post. $\endgroup$– Remi.bApr 28, 2016 at 23:29
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2 Answers
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It is not theoretically impossible for protein to self-replicate. It just did not evolve to be a common mechanism. Lee et al. 1996 reports finding of a protein that can catalyze its own synthesis.
