Yarus M
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Universityof Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0347, USA.
Curr Opin Chem Biol. 1999 Jun;3(3):260-7. doi: 10.1016/S1367-5931(99)80041-6.
Before large, specific peptides could be made, in an RNA world our ancestors may have used an RNA-like molecule for both catalysis and information storage. Taken together, RNA activities suggest RNA could have performed most of the essential informational functions of an ancient organism (i.e. those functions most similar to RNA's role today). In contrast, though compellingly reasoned optimism about RNA-catalyzed small-molecule metabolism is plentiful, fundamental problems remain to be solved.
在能够合成大型特定肽之前，在RNA世界中，我们的祖先可能已经使用一种类似RNA的分子进行催化和信息存储。综合来看，RNA的活性表明RNA可能已经执行了古代生物体的大部分基本信息功能（即那些与RNA当今作用最相似的功能）。相比之下，尽管对RNA催化的小分子代谢有大量令人信服的乐观推断，但仍有一些基本问题有待解决。
