Before mammals, before dinosaurs, before bacteria, or plants, there was something else; a protocell containing RNA.
The Exploring Origins Project has excellent animations of protocells, a timeline of life's evolution, and best of all- fantastic animations of the RNA world.
You can see how RNA folds, ribozymes (RNA that catalyzes chemical reactions), and learn about the role of RNA when the Earth was young.
BTW- I made this ribozyme image with Cn3D. The RNA is synthetic - made by humans with machines, that is, and this molecule can cut chemical bonds.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Today scientists took another step towards creating the sort of simple life forms that may have been the first inhabitants of Earth. I wrote a feature for the June issue of Discover about this group, led by Jack Szostak at Harvard Medical School. Szostak and his colleagues suspect that life started…
Origins of life research, or etiobiology as I like to call it, is an odd discipline. It is rarely done under any direct funding, instead being done as a side effect of other, mostly molecular, biological research, especially since NASA shut down the bulk of its Astrobiology Program under massive…
There is a paper in last week's Science that describes a proofreading mechanism in prokaryotic (i.e. bacterial) RNA Polymerase, the enzyme responsible for transcribing DNA into RNA. When RNA Pol incorporates the wrong base into a growing RNA, the enzyme moves two steps back and cleaves the…
Continuing with the Thursday series of the BIO101 lecture notes. Check for errors of fact. Suggest improvements (June 01, 2006):
----------------------------------------
BIO101 - Bora Zivkovic - Lecture 4, Part 1
Adaptation vs. Diversity
Biology is concerned with answering two Big Questions: how…
Wow! I love that website's animations!
It's funny, the more I read about the role of RNA--everything from tiny RNA's to ERV's--the more I realize that we're still living in an RNA world. DNA and proteins (from RNA's perspective) are just tools that RNA uses to do its bidding more efficiently.
It's also funny, the more I read about abiogenesis, the more I realize that all those chemical reactions and interactions are still going on today. Abiogenesis wasn't some event that once happened and then gave way to evolution; abiogenesis is an ongoing process that has existed ever since there have been organic molecules in aqueous environments.
Is'nt It Still An RNA World?
A. "RNAs Mysterious Ways"
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/240/122.page#4567
is a comment on:
"Translation Revelation
More findings confirm that small RNAs work in mysterious ways."
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/56173/
B. Is'nt It Still An RNA World?
I conjecture that a scientifically commonsensical further unraveling of the mysterious ways of RNAs would follow:
- 1st, acceptance of the revelation of the commonsensical lifehood of genes, of the concept presented in "Updated Life's Manifest May 2009"
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/140/122.page#2321
- 2nd, a rational resolution of the question if/when the initial, independent pre-biometabolism direct sunlight-fueled genes were RNAs and if/when they "evolved" their DNA-images as operational libraries prior to celling and genoming. They most probably synthesized (and nucleusized) their DNAs libraries as their organ to serve as their environmentally stabler works memory core,
and
- 3rd, a resolution of the scientifically rational possibility that ALL RNAs are representative of the original archae-genes that since their (life) genesis have been and still are the primary actors, assessors, messengers, operators of all life processes,
and
- 4th, acceptance of the rational possibility that the RNAs are the environmental feedback communicators to the genomes thus signallers of the accordingly desirable biased genes expressions effectors, for enhanced energy constraining, i.e. for survival,
and
- 5th, effecting the genes expressions per "Genes' Expression Modification"
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/200/122.page#3649
Suggesting,
Dov Henis
(Comments From The 22nd Century)
Cosmic Evolution Simplified
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/240/122.page#4427
Wow, so do u mean that RNA is the older version of DNA, or am i getting it totally wrong.
RNA came before DNA.