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1952: an X-ray diffraction image of DNA was taken by Raymond Gosling in May 1952, a student supervised by Rosalind Franklin. [30] 1953: DNA structure is resolved to be a double helix by James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. [31] 1955: Alexander R. Todd determined the chemical makeup of nitrogenous bases.
A focus on new model organisms such as viruses and bacteria, along with the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA in 1953, marked the transition to the era of molecular genetics. In the following years, chemists developed techniques for sequencing both nucleic acids and proteins, while many others worked out the relationship between ...
Retroviruses were shown to have a single-stranded RNA genome and to replicate via a DNA intermediate, the reverse of the usual DNA-to-RNA transcription pathway. They encode a RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase) that is essential for this process. Some retroviruses can cause diseases, including several that are associated with ...
De novo gene birth can give rise to protein-coding genes and non-coding genes from previously non-functional DNA. [33] For instance, Levine and colleagues reported the origin of five new genes in the D. melanogaster genome. [34] [35] Similar de novo origin of genes has been also shown in other organisms such as yeast, [36] rice [37] and humans ...
Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the structure and/or function of genes in an organism's genome using genetic screens.
A second version of the central dogma is popular but incorrect. This is the simplistic DNA → RNA → protein pathway published by James Watson in the first edition of The Molecular Biology of the Gene (1965). Watson's version differs from Crick's because Watson describes a two-step (DNA → RNA and RNA → protein) process as the central ...
The tRNA PHE structure is notable in the field of nucleic acid structure in general, as it represented the first solution of a long-chain nucleic acid structure of any kind—RNA or DNA—preceding Richard E. Dickerson's solution of a B-form dodecamer by nearly a decade. [31]
The role of RNA in the origin of life is best supported by the ease of forming RNA from basic chemical building blocks (such as amino acids, sugars, and hydroxyl acids) that were likely present 4 billion years ago. [2] [3] Molecules of RNA have also been shown to effectively self-replicate, catalyze basic reactions, and store heritable information.