After the emergence of the first replicators capable of connecting amino acids
by peptide bonds, the synthesis of first, random polypeptide sequences at nucleotide
and/or ZnS templates could begin. Without considering the elusive chemical
details, it seems fitting, as in the previous section, to focus on selective factors that
could drive the emergence of the first polypeptides. They may have been recruited
to perform functions that did not require a particular amino acid sequence but
only the ability of a polypeptide to bind to a replicator, e.g. via the protein backbone
groups [209]. Such a binding, for example, could protect the backbone of
replicators from hydrolysis or cleavage. In addition, the bound polypeptides could