> I question the idea that the cell arose before DNA, as a sort of
> blank proteinoid sphere that sat around waiting for DNA to take
> advantage of it.
>
That's neither a fair nor an accurate description of a proteinoid microsphere.
>
> Aren't all real (not '-oid') proteins synthesized via DNA?
>
That's just the point. Proteinoids are real proteins (listed in Chemical
Abstracts under Protein, subheading Thermal) because they are polymers of
amino acids linked by the peptide bond, but they are not synthesized via DNA.
>
> It seems more reasonable to theorize that DNA was
> reproducing haphazardly and then subsequently hit upon the
> cell structure.
>
Except that experimental evidence demonstrates the exact opposite. And there
is almost no experimental evidence to support a "DNA first" scenario. Even
Crick has admitted that DNA did not come first.
Kevin L. O'Brien