In recent years he also contributed to ideas assuming that non-canonical RNA nucleosides are vestiges of an extinct RNA world. His work on the prebiotic origin of modified nucleosides was published in Science 2016 and 2019. Recently Thomas discovered that amino acid modified non-canonical nucleosides in the anticodon loop of many tRNAs have the ability to self-decorate with amino acids and peptides suggesting an early RNA-peptide world. This work will soon appear as an article in Nature in 2022 (accepted for publication).

His fundamental contributions were recognized by the receipt of the Leibniz Price, the most prestigous German Research Price awarded by the DFG and numerous prestigious awards, such as the Calvin Lectureship at the University of Berkeley. The recognition of his international standing in the field is also manifested in a series of visiting professorships across the world in recent years. In recognition of his innovative and applied work in organic chemistry and his entrapreneurship Thomas Carell was recently nominated and elected into the Supervisory Board of BASF SE, one of the largest chemical company in the world.