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Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are nucleic acids. The nucleic acids constitute one of the four major ...
The RNA world is a hypothetical stage in the evolutionary history of life on Earth in which self-replicating RNA molecules proliferated before the evolution of DNA and proteins. [ 1 ] The term also refers to the hypothesis that posits the existence of this stage. Alexander Rich first proposed the concept of the RNA world in 1962, [ 2 ] and ...
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
Ribosomal RNA characteristics are important in evolution, thus taxonomy and medicine. rRNA is one of only a few gene products present in all cells. [45] For this reason, genes that encode the rRNA are sequenced to identify an organism's taxonomic group, calculate related groups, and estimate rates of species divergence. [68]
Most prokaryotes are between 1 μm and 10 μm, but they can vary in size from 0.2 μm (Mycoplasma genitalium) to 750 μm (Thiomargarita namibiensis). Prokaryotic cell structure. Description. Flagellum (not always present) Long, whip-like protrusion that aids cellular locomotion used by both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Cell membrane.
The term nucleic acid is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a family of biopolymers, [13] and is a type of polynucleotide. Nucleic acids were named for their initial discovery within the nucleus, and for the presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid). [14] Although first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells ...
Last universal common ancestor. The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the hypothesized common ancestral cell from which the three domains of life, the Bacteria, the Archaea, and the Eukarya originated. The cell had a lipid bilayer; it possessed the genetic code and ribosomes which translated from DNA or RNA to proteins.
The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome , which links proteinogenic amino acids in an order specified by messenger RNA (mRNA), using transfer RNA (tRNA ...