Monday, August 15, 2011

Why is RNA more likely to have been the first information molecule?

RNA is thought to be the first information molecule because it is capable of storing information (duh) and because RNA can act as an enzyme which DNA cannot. DNA is more stable which is why scientists think there was a transition from an RNA world to a DNA world however it cannot catalyze chemical reactions. RNA that acts as an enzyme is called a ribozyme. By catalyzing chemical reactions RNA may have been able to self-replicate without the istance of proteins and/or catalyzed the formation of proteins that could help it replicate or do other tasks.

No comments:

Post a Comment