ArticlePLoS biology2026
The selfish ribosome.
Article in PLoS biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Coevolution of Codependent Hosts and Symbionts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The Emergence of Life in the Light of Evolution.ArXiv · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis in all cells, and is the cell's largest energy consumer. We propose that the ribosome originated as a mutualistic symbiont of an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase ribozyme, supplying peptides that enhanced replication. As life transitioned from the RNA to the RNA-protein world, autonomous replicators became irreversibly addicted to the ribosome for producing replication proteins. Subsequent evolution is construed as a ribosomal takeover, whereby the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell's resources, while other cellular componentry ensured the propagation of the ribosome, while being fully dependent on it. Under this perspective, the ribosome is a complex symbiont of the cell with pronounced selfish properties.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.