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The Genetic Code and the Origin of Life

  • Book
  • © 2004

Overview

Authors:
  1. Lluís Ribas de Pouplana

    1. The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA
      ICREA and Barcelona Institute for Biomedical Research, Barcelona Science Park, Barcelona, Spain

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  • This edited text is an important volume that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the double helix.

  • Combining general overview with detailed describtions, this book is suitable for all students and researchers interested in the origins and discovery of DNA.

  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. The Early Earth

    • Oliver Botta, Jeffrey L. Bada
    Pages 1-14

  3. Reconstructing the Universal Tree of Life

    • James R. Brown
    Pages 15-33

  4. The Nature of the Last Common Ancestor

    • Luis Delaye, Arturo Becerra, Antonio Lazcano
    Pages 34-47

  5. Ribozyme-Catalyzed Genetics

    • Donald H. Burke
    Pages 48-74

  6. The Scope of Selection

    • Michael Yarns, Rob D. Knight
    Pages 75-91

  7. The Evolutionary History of the Translation Machinery

    • George E. Fox, Ashwinikumar K. Naik
    Pages 92-105

  8. Functional Evolution of Ribosomes

    • Carlos Briones, Ricardo Amils
    Pages 106-118

  9. Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases as Clues to Establishment of the Genetic Code

    • Lluís Ribas de Pouplana, Paul Schimmel
    Pages 119-133

  10. The Relation between Function, Structure and Evolution of Elongation Factors Tu

    • Mathias Sprinzl
    Pages 134-144

  11. Origin and Evolution of DNA and DNA Replication Machineries

    • Patrick Forterre, Jonathan Filée, Hannu Myllykallio
    Pages 145-168

  12. Early Evolution of DNA Repair Mechanisms

    • Jocelyne DiRuggiero, Frank T. Robb
    Pages 169-182

  13. Extant Variations in the Genetic Code

    • Manuel A. S. Santos, Mick F. Tuite
    Pages 183-200

  14. Adaptive Evolution of the Genetic Code

    • Rob D. Knight, Stephen J. Freeland, Laura F. Landweber
    Pages 201-220

  15. Expanding the Genetic Code in Vitro and in Vivo

    • Thomas J. Magliery, David R. Liu
    Pages 221-249

  16. Back Matter

    Pages 251-253
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Keywords

About this book

Early Thoughts on RNA and the Origin of Life The full impact of the essential role of the nucleic acids in biological systems was forcefully demonstrated by the research community in the 1950s. Although Avery and his collaborators had identified DNA as the genetic material responsible for the transformation of bacteria in 1944, it was not until the early 1950s that the Hershey-Chase experiments provided a more direct demonstration of this role. Finally, the structural DNA double helix proposed by Watson and Crick in 1953 clearly created a structural frame­ work for the role of DNA as both information carrier and as a molecule that could undergo the necessary replication needed for daughter cells. Research continued by Kornberg and his colleagues in the mid-1950s emphasized the biochemistry and enzymology of DNA replication. At the same time, there was a growing interest in the role of RNA. The 1956 dis­ covery by David Davies and myself showed that polyadenylic acid and polyuridylic acid could form a double-helical RNA molecule but that it differed somewhat from DN A A large number of experiments were subsequendy carried out with synthetic polyribonucleotides which illustrated that RNA could form even more complicated helical structures in which the specificity of hydrogen bonding was the key element in determining the molecular conformation. Finally, in I960,1 could show that it was possible to make a hybrid helix.

Authors and Affiliations

  • The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA

    Lluís Ribas de Pouplana

  • ICREA and Barcelona Institute for Biomedical Research, Barcelona Science Park, Barcelona, Spain

    Lluís Ribas de Pouplana

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Genetic Code and the Origin of Life

  • Authors: Lluís Ribas de Pouplana

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/b138242

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag US 2004

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-306-47843-7Published: 18 October 2004

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4419-3413-0Published: 29 October 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-0-387-26887-3Published: 03 April 2007

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 254

  • Topics: Biochemistry, general, Cell Biology, Evolutionary Biology

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