Editing Openai/686aedb2-60b0-8003-98a8-e1766cf496a6 (section)

===== - It is one of the most-cited critical yet pro-RNA reviews; even detractors quote its “worst theory … except all the others” line. crev.info<ref>{{cite web|title=crev.info|url=https://crev.info/2024/11/rna-world-suffers-a-backhand-blow/|publisher=crev.info|access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref> =====
* Its balanced tone—acknowledging flaws while skewering rivals—makes it a common starting point for graduate seminars.
* Subsequent advances have tended to fill the specific gaps he catalogued, so the paper has aged well as a roadmap of outstanding problems rather than a dated polemic.

Bottom line: Bernhardt’s blows at metabolism-first and proteins-first still stand; the RNA-world objections he listed have weakened thanks to fresh chemistry and replication data. The field has expanded to encompass RNA-peptide hybrids, but no competitor has yet offered a more complete, experimentally grounded alternative.