Tales from the RNA Underworld - Research into Fred

My Research in a nutshell:

I want to know Fred a little better and especially his RNA

So who is Fred?

Fred is the last common ancestor of eukaryotes. I hated the name LECA (last common eukaryotic ancestor) which is perhaps more conventional and instead used a name without an acronym. Then my good friend and colleague Dr. Barbara Holland made Fred into an acryonym - Yes Fred became the...

Fairly Remote Eukaryotic Daddy

 Anyway, the name stuck. Research is indicating that Fred was not primitive or simple and our cells today contain many of the features that were also contained in Fred including a mitochondria (or its ancestor), and RNA regulation. It is the latter that really intrigues me. Molecular evolution tells us about the RNA world, the world where RNA was both the genetic storage and catalytic molecule (replacing today's DNA, RNA and protein). My question is how much of that ancient world survived to the ancestor of eukaryotes, and then onto the eukaryotes of today. Not an easy question, but one guaranteed to keep me busy.