Over time the initially long chain RNA molecule evolved into shorter RNA chains. Shorter RNA molecules which replicated faster, out-replicated the longer ones, driving those longer ones to extinction. So what is termed natural selection within the biological world is also found to operate in the chemical world. The conclusion is highly significant. The causal sequence: replication—mutation—selection—evolution, normally associated with the biological world, in fact the sine qua non of biology, is also clearly evident at the chemical level.
