Breaker's lab solved a decades-old mystery by describing how tiny circular RNA molecules called cyclic di-GMP are able to turn genes on and off. This process determines whether the bacterium swims or stays stationary, and whether it remains solitary or joins with other bacteria to form organic masses called biofilms.

Bacterial use of RNA to trigger major changes without the involvement of proteins resolves one of the questions about the origin of life: If proteins are needed to carry out life's functions and DNA is needed to make proteins, how did DNA arise?

The answer is what Breaker and other researchers call the RNA World. They believe that billions of years ago, single strands of nucleotides that comprise RNA were the first forms of life and carried out some of the complicated cellular functions now done by proteins. The riboswitches are highly conserved in bacteria, illustrating their importance and ancient ancestry, Breaker said.

Its amazing how every time science defines our word of truth's, whether these denote a fascinating future or a restricting past (DNA as an example), there comes the next discovery, that shows us yet again, unless one is blind to see, that we are in a process of discovering more and more unknowns about our origins, and every time a new discovery comes, you say 'come on' what else can they discover this time that will change something?

and every time a shaking discovery comes, such as this one, we find ourselves standing in awe in front of the inconceivable potential of life, and that we are perhaps, not entirely what we think we are...