Westheimer argued that such ester-linked DNA would be far too unstable to support life, as the rate of spontaneous (non-enzymatic) hydrolytic breakdown for esters is unacceptably high: all it takes is...Westheimer argued that such ester-linked DNA would be far too unstable to support life, as the rate of spontaneous (non-enzymatic) hydrolytic breakdown for esters is unacceptably high: all it takes is a single break in the DNA chain to potentially prevent an organism from passing along its genes to the next generation. (The hydrolysis of esters is a reaction that we will examine in detail in section 12.4B).
