基于RNA的进化的古老性。

The antiquity of RNA-based evolution.

作者信息

Joyce Gerald F

机构信息

Department of Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.

出版信息

Nature. 2002 Jul 11;418(6894):214-21. doi: 10.1038/418214a.

DOI:10.1038/418214a

PMID:12110897

Abstract

All life that is known to exist on Earth today and all life for which there is evidence in the geological record seems to be of the same form--one based on DNA genomes and protein enzymes. Yet there are strong reasons to conclude that DNA- and protein-based life was preceded by a simpler life form based primarily on RNA. This earlier era is referred to as the 'RNA world', during which the genetic information resided in the sequence of RNA molecules and the phenotype derived from the catalytic properties of RNA.

摘要

目前已知存在于地球上的所有生命以及地质记录中有证据表明的所有生命，似乎都具有相同的形式——一种基于DNA基因组和蛋白质酶的形式。然而，有充分的理由可以得出结论，基于DNA和蛋白质的生命之前存在一种主要基于RNA的更简单的生命形式。这个更早的时代被称为“RNA世界”，在此期间，遗传信息存在于RNA分子的序列中，而表型则源自RNA的催化特性。