Editing Phenotype (section)

==Evolutionary origin of phenotype==
The [[RNA world]] is the hypothesized pre-cellular stage in the evolutionary history of life on earth, in which self-replicating RNA molecules proliferated prior to the evolution of [[DNA]] and proteins.<ref name = Michod1983>{{cite journal | vauthors = Michod RE | title = Population biology of the first replicators: on the origin of the genotype, phenotype and organism. | journal = American Zoologist | date = February 1983 | volume = 23 | issue = 1 | pages = 5–14 | doi = 10.1093/icb/23.1.5 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The folded [[three-dimensional]] physical structure of the first RNA molecule that possessed ribozyme activity promoting replication while avoiding destruction would have been the first phenotype, and the [[nucleic acid sequence|nucleotide sequence]] of the first self-replicating RNA molecule would have been the original genotype.<ref name = Michod1983/>