Root-Bernstein Robert
Department of Physiology, 2174 Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Bioessays. 2007 Jul;29(7):689-98. doi: 10.1002/bies.20602.
The origin of homochirality in molecules characterizing living systems has remained a mystery since Pasteur's recognition of the problem some 150 years ago.(2-5) Most theories also assume that homochirality emerged in one class of molecules (e.g. ribose) from which it was enriched in other molecules (e.g. amino acids) as well.(2-5)I propose a novel, experimentally testable hypothesis describing a process by which selective chirality in amino acids and ribonucleotides emerged simultaneously and hand-in-hand with the origin and directionality of the genetic code within a system of interactions involving amino acids, peptides, nucleotide bases, their sugars and polynucleotides.
自巴斯德大约150年前认识到这个问题以来,构成生命系统的分子中同手性的起源一直是个谜。(2 - 5)大多数理论还假定同手性出现在一类分子(如核糖)中,然后在其他分子(如氨基酸)中也富集起来。(2 - 5)我提出了一个新颖的、可通过实验验证的假说,该假说描述了一个过程,在这个过程中,氨基酸和核糖核苷酸中的选择性手性与遗传密码的起源和方向性同时且紧密相连地出现在一个涉及氨基酸、肽、核苷酸碱基、它们的糖和多核苷酸的相互作用系统中。