The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology has never been seriously challenged. Here is your chance: can you conceive of a mechanism whereby genetic information can flow directly from proteins to nucleic acids?
« The Limitations of LB Medium | Main | Merry adds Oomycete Mating Types and the Potato Blight »
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.
Your Information
(Name is required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)
This description of "non-Dogmatic" information transfer reminds me of all the great debates between Crick and Gamov and the others about how coding would work. But I do wonder if we are missing things. The Cairns-Smith "life from clay" was one approach:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Cairns-Smith
And so far as the deeply weird, how about "cortical inheritance"? First described in protists, it is far more widespread:
http://science.jrank.org/pages/48371/Cortical-Inheritance.html
Who knows what we are all missing? Joshua Lederberg used to wonder if we are so fixated on DNA/RNA based life that we might miss "shadow life" here on Earth! He used to suggest trying to grow organisms from an inoculum to which was added a huge amount of radioactive phosphorus. I don't know if anyone ever tried that!
Posted by: Mark O. Martin | November 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM