Folding pathway leading to the most stable conformation of a random RNA chain

We simulate the expolration in conformation space of an RNA molecule with random uncorrelated sequence and subject to intrachain Watson-Crick-type interactions. The folding pathway that leads to the equilibrium conformation follows consecutively two relaxation regimes, both rooted in a random-energy model. The first regime is kinetically controlled and, thereafter, detailed balance prevails.