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This review adopts a plural framing of RNA worlds to connect three regimes: a primordial RNA world constrained by geochemistry, a contemporary RNA world in which RNAs contribute to catalysis and regulation in cells, and an applied RNA world in which RNA is engineered as a programmable tool. Across these regimes, a common logic emerges from the mapping of sequence to structure to function under explicit constraints. In early evolution, cycling, interfaces, and confinement can generate heterogeneous oligomer pools and bias their persistence, whereas the transition toward Darwinian dynamics depends on copying fidelity, strand dynamics, and compartment coupled population structure. In cells and applications, noncoding RNA networks, RNA modifications, and RNA-guided targeting implement specificity in chemically complex environments, while laboratory selection and design must also confront constraints imposed by stability, delivery, and immune sensing. Across contexts, fitness landscapes and tradeoffs between peak performance and robustness provide experimental benchmarks and practical design principles for RNA function.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fgene.2026.1813517","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T10:09:51Z","timestamp":1776247791000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Brave new RNA world(s): from prebiotic chemistry to gene regulation and RNA technology"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Alexis A.","family":"Flores-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidad Abierta y a Distancia de M\u00e9xico, Undergraduate Program in Biotechnology Engineering","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]},{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aura","family":"Hernandez-Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]},{"name":"Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biol\u00f3gicas - Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Undergraduate Program in Bacteriological and Parasitological Chemistry","place":["Mexico City, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"E. 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