Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is, along with DNA and protein, one of the three primary biological macromolecules and was probably the first to arise in early life forms. In the “RNA world” hypothesis, RNA is able to support life on its own because it can both store information and catalyze biochemical reactions. Even in modern life, the most complex molecular machines in all cells, the ribosomes, are made largely of RNA. Chemists at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna and at McGill University have developed a new synthetic approach that allows RNA to be chemically synthesized about a million times more efficiently than previously possible.