A majority of evolutionary biologists believe that we now can envision our biological predecessors--not the first, but nearly the first, living beings on Earth. This book is about these vanished forebears. The era between the first rudimentary life on Earth and the appearance of more complex beings is called the RNA world. It is RNA (ribonucleic acid) long believed to be a mere biologic copier and messenger, that offers a glimpse into our ancient predecessors. To describe early RNA creatures, here called "ribocytes" or RNA cells, the author uses basics of molecular biology. He reviews our current understanding of the tree of life, examines the structure of RNA itself, explains the operation of the genetic code, and more. Courting controversy among those who question the role of ribocytes -- citing the chemical fragility of RNA and the uncertainty about the origin of an RNA synthetic apparatus -- he offers a vision of early life on Earth.

"A Subject Collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology."

A dual biography of Joan Steitz and Jennifer Doudna, two women who combined successful home lives with successful careers in science.

RNA molecules could function as catalysts. --

A dual biography of Joan Steitz and Jennifer Doudna, two women who combined successful home lives with successful careers in science.

Recent studies on the activities of RNA in the cell have revolutionized our understanding of the many roles played by this molecule. The first two editions of The RNA World(1993, 1999) shed light on the pre–biotic era dominated by this versatile molecule, and provided an overview of the state of RNA research at the time. The new third edition of The RNA Worldupdates this perspective, describing the vast array of newly discovered roles for RNA in the modern world. The updated original chapters are supplemented with new chapters on RNA–protein complexes, snRNPs and snoRNPs, telomerase RNA, RNAi, microRNAs, noncoding RNA, and many other subjects. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the biology of nucleic acids and gene regulation and a valuable resource for teaching these concepts.

This publication summarizes the current status of our understanding of RNA, with particular emphasis on the chemistry of this key biological molecule. The various RNAs covered are messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA and RNA enzymes (ribozymes). The different chapters detail biophysical and chemical methods to investigate RNA structure and function, the synthesis of native and modified RNAs and the latest advances in our understanding of the vast array of biological processes in which RNA is involved.

“A strikingly original . . . collection of essays, which places the work and broad intellectual interests of Lynne Margulis in a variety of contexts.” —Stacy Alaimo, author of Exposed: Environmental Politics and Pleasures in Posthuman Times Exploring the broad implications of evolutionary theorist Lynn Margulis’s work, this collection brings together specialists across a range of disciplines, from paleontology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, and geobiology to developmental systems theory, archaeology, history of science, cultural science studies, and literature and science. Addressing the multiple themes that animated Margulis’s science, the essays within take up, variously, astrobiology and the origin of life, ecology and symbiosis from the microbial to the planetary scale, the coupled interactions of earthly environments and evolving life in Gaia theory and earth system science, and the connections of these newer scientific ideas to cultural and creative productions. “Altogether, Earth, Life, and System offers a series of often fascinating, always stimulating . . . invariably enriching essays in an incisive and unruly science and its existential repercussions. It is a fitting tribute to one of modern science’s most generative and productive independent spirits, a gadfly like Socrates whose ultimate concern was to ensure that enquiry and debate were never stifled by received opinion and ‘normal’ expectations.” —The British Society for Literature and Science “A vital contribution to interdisciplinary knowledge about life, evolution, and the planetary imaginary.” —Tyler Volk, award-winning author of Quarks to Culture “Contributors include biologists, philosophers, historians, and even Margulis’s son, a science writer who sets the tone for the rest of the text in an intimate first chapter about his mother. Clarke’s sought-after interdisciplinarity shines in the finished product.” —Isis Review