Dr. Peter Rentzepis

Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University

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Last updated Oct 17, 2026

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Texas A&M engineers trace how thymine shielded early DNA from UV light

New Capabilities

Led the study

For decades, biologists puzzled over a chemical swap at the heart of heredity. When life moved from RNA to DNA, the base uracil was replaced by thymine—even though thymine absorbs more ultraviolet damage, and early Earth had no ozone layer to block the sun's radiation.

Updated Oct 17