The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis

The concept of an RNA world is a hypothesis firmly rooted in empirical data and is part of a long and complex scientific perspective that goes back more than fifty years to the discovery of the central role RNA and ribonucleotides play in protein synthesis and biochemical reactions took place. As t...

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Main Author: Antonio Lazcano
Format: Article
Language:Catalan
Published: Universitat de València 2016-04-01
Series:Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://turia.uv.es/index.php/Metode/article/view/5146
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author Antonio Lazcano
author_facet Antonio Lazcano
author_sort Antonio Lazcano
collection DOAJ
description The concept of an RNA world is a hypothesis firmly rooted in empirical data and is part of a long and complex scientific perspective that goes back more than fifty years to the discovery of the central role RNA and ribonucleotides play in protein synthesis and biochemical reactions took place. As the understanding of RNA biology progressed, several independent proposals of protein-free primordial life forms were suggested. Although this possibility was strongly reinforced with the discovery of ribozymes, there are many definitions of the RNA world, including several contradictory ones. One could say that it was an early, perhaps primordial, stage during which RNA molecules played a much more conspicuous role in heredity and metabolism and, particularly, in the origin and early evolution of protein biosynthesis. The overwhelming evidence for the catalytic, regulatory, and structural properties of RNA molecules, combined with their ubiquity in cellular processes, can only be explained with the proposal that they played a key role in early evolution and perhaps in the origin of life itself.
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series Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review
spelling doaj-art-45721bc6e3fb4dd98c96cad2b7915b042024-11-18T16:02:44ZcatUniversitat de ValènciaMètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review2174-34872174-92212016-04-01610.7203/metode.6.5146The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesisAntonio Lazcano0<p>UNAM, Mexico City</p> The concept of an RNA world is a hypothesis firmly rooted in empirical data and is part of a long and complex scientific perspective that goes back more than fifty years to the discovery of the central role RNA and ribonucleotides play in protein synthesis and biochemical reactions took place. As the understanding of RNA biology progressed, several independent proposals of protein-free primordial life forms were suggested. Although this possibility was strongly reinforced with the discovery of ribozymes, there are many definitions of the RNA world, including several contradictory ones. One could say that it was an early, perhaps primordial, stage during which RNA molecules played a much more conspicuous role in heredity and metabolism and, particularly, in the origin and early evolution of protein biosynthesis. The overwhelming evidence for the catalytic, regulatory, and structural properties of RNA molecules, combined with their ubiquity in cellular processes, can only be explained with the proposal that they played a key role in early evolution and perhaps in the origin of life itself. https://turia.uv.es/index.php/Metode/article/view/5146Origin of lifeRNA Worldribonucleotidyl coenzymescatalytic RNA
spellingShingle Antonio Lazcano
The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review
Origin of life
RNA World
ribonucleotidyl coenzymes
catalytic RNA
title The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
title_full The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
title_fullStr The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
title_full_unstemmed The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
title_short The RNA World: Piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
title_sort rna world piecing together the historical development of a hypothesis
topic Origin of life
RNA World
ribonucleotidyl coenzymes
catalytic RNA
url https://turia.uv.es/index.php/Metode/article/view/5146
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