Research abstract for Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D. We are interested in the chemical and physical processes that facilitated the transition from chemical evolution to biological evolution on the early earth.
As a way of exploring these processes, our laboratory is trying to build a synthetic cellular system that undergoes Darwinian evolution. Our view of what such a chemical system would look like centers on a model of a primitive cell, or protocell, that consists of two main components: a self-replicating genetic polymer and a self-replicating membrane boundary (Figure 1). The job of the genetic polymer is to carry information in a way that allows for both replication and variation, so that new sequences that encode useful functions can be inherited and can further evolve. The role of the protocell membrane is to keep these informational polymers localized, so that the functions they encode lead to an advantage in terms of their own replication or survival.
RNA World. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Frontiers, Acts of Creation. Artificial life and the RNA world. By Matthew Cobb Two things come together from earlier this year.
First, there was a lot of argument here, in the Times Literary Supplement and elsewhere over Stephen C. The RNA world lives on the TLS letter page. Chemical Bonding Center: RNA World. Welcome to the Chemical Bonding Center. Exploring Life's Origins: Understanding the RNA World. Talk:RNA world hypothesis. RNA World. RNA World/Project description/en – Rechenkraft. RNA World project description RNA World is a distributed supercomputer that uses Internet-connected computers to advance RNA research.
This system is dedicated to identify, analyze, structurally predict and design RNA molecules on the basis of established bioinformatics software in a high-performance, high-throughput fashion. The RNA World and the Origins of Life - Molecular Biology of the Cell - NCBI Bookshelf. The RNA Worlds in Context. Thomas R.
Cech + Author Affiliations. Riboswitches and the RNA World. Ronald R.
Breaker + Author Affiliations Correspondence: ronald.breaker@yale.edu Riboswitches are structured noncoding RNA domains that selectively bind metabolites and control gene expression (Mandal and Breaker 2004a; Coppins et al. 2007; Roth and Breaker 2009). The Roles of RNA in the Synthesis of Protein. + Author Affiliations Correspondence: peter.moore@yale.edu The crystal structures of ribosomes that have been obtained since 2000 have transformed our understanding of protein synthesis.
In addition to proving that RNA is responsible for catalyzing peptide bond formation, these structures have provided important insights into the mechanistic details of how the ribosome functions. This review emphasizes what has been learned about the mechanism of peptide bond formation, the antibiotics that inhibit ribosome function, and the fidelity of decoding. Footnotes. Setting the Stage: The History, Chemistry, and Geobiology behind RNA. No community-accepted scientific methods are available today to guide studies on what role RNA played in the origin and early evolution of life on Earth.
Further, a definition-theory for life is needed to develop hypotheses relating to the “RNA First” model for the origin of life. Four approaches are currently at various stages of development of such a definition-theory to guide these studies. These are (a) paleogenetics, in which inferences about the structure of past life are drawn from the structure of present life; (b) prebiotic chemistry, in which hypotheses with experimental support are sought that get RNA from organic and inorganic species possibly present on early Earth; (c) exploration, hoping to encounter life independent of terran life, which might contain RNA; and (d) synthetic biology, in which laboratories attempt to reproduce biological behavior with unnatural chemical systems.
Copyright © 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved. Bacterial Small RNA Regulators: Versatile Roles and Rapidly Evolving Variations. + Author Affiliations Correspondence: susang@helix.nih.gov and storz@helix.nih.gov Small RNA regulators (sRNAs) have been identified in a wide range of bacteria and found to play critical regulatory roles in many processes.
The major families of sRNAs include true antisense RNAs, synthesized from the strand complementary to the mRNA they regulate, sRNAs that also act by pairing but have limited complementarity with their targets, and sRNAs that regulate proteins by binding to and affecting protein activity. The sRNAs with limited complementarity are akin to eukaryotic microRNAs in their ability to modulate the activity and stability of multiple mRNAs. In many bacterial species, the RNA chaperone Hfq is required to promote pairing between these sRNAs and their target mRNAs. Footnotes Editors: John F. Copyright © 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved. RNA Granules in Germ Cells. + Author Affiliations Correspondence: evoronina@jhmi.edu (E.V.); gseydoux@jhmi.edu (G.S.); psc@uci.edu (P.S.
-C.); inagamor@uci.edu (I.N.) “Germ granules” are cytoplasmic, nonmembrane-bound organelles unique to germline. Germ granules share components with the P bodies and stress granules of somatic cells, but also contain proteins and RNAs uniquely required for germ cell development. In this review, we focus on recent advances in our understanding of germ granule assembly, dynamics, and function. Copyright © 2011 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved. Evolution of Protein Synthesis from an RNA World. Harry F. Noller + Author Affiliations Correspondence: harry@nuvolari.ucsc.edu Because of the molecular complexity of the ribosome and protein synthesis, it is a challenge to imagine how translation could have evolved from a primitive RNA World. Two specific suggestions are made here to help to address this, involving separate evolution of the peptidyl transferase and decoding functions. Footnotes Editors: John F. Copyright © 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.
Aptamers and the RNA World, Past and Present. + Author Affiliations Correspondence: lgold@somalogic.com Aptamers and the SELEX process were discovered over two decades ago. These discoveries have spawned a productive academic and commercial industry. The collective results provide insights into biology, past and present, through an in vitro evolutionary exploration of the nature of nucleic acids and their potential roles in ancient life.
Aptamers have helped usher in an RNA renaissance. RNA in Defense: CRISPRs Protect Prokaryotes against Mobile Genetic Elements. Gerald Joyce, Scripps Research Institute, Recreating the RNA Wor. Thomas R. Cech: Exploring the New RNA World. By Thomas R. Cech 1989 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Not too long ago, most people considered RNA to be just a disposable copy of the really important nucleic acid, DNA. It is the double helix of DNA, after all, that shows up on magazine covers and television; DNA is the material of our genes and chromosomes, the stuff that determines our genetic inheritance. RNA – ribonucleic acid – is a copy of the DNA instructions that serves as a messenger to direct protein synthesis, which is then destroyed after it has fulfilled its function.
RNA world hypothesis. From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium Schematic showing the fold of the QDE-1 RNA interference polymerase. The dimeric molecule is shown with the polypeptide chains colored from blue at the N termini to red at the C termini. From: RNA Silencing Sheds Light on the RNA World Jones R PLoS Biology Vol. 4, No. 12, e448 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040448 The RNA world hypothesis proposes that RNA was the first life-form on earth, later developing a cell membrane around it and becoming the first prokaryotic cell. Support The RNA World hypothesis is supported by the RNA's ability to store, transmit, and duplicate genetic information, just like DNA does.
The phrase "RNA World" was first used by Walter Gilbert in 1986. Base pairing RNA and DNA are made of long stretches of specific nucleotides, often called "bases", attached to a sugar-phosphate backbone.