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Macromolecules and the RNA World > Research Links
"Macromolecules and the RNA World" introduced you to the building blocks of
biological life—how chemicals produced complex molecules such as RNA. The following
Websites explore current research in this area.
3.1 The Start of Chemical Evolution: Experimental Simulations
Stanley Miller on Exobiology
Stanley Miller's work in the 1950s provided biologists with a hypothesis of how the
first biological molecules may have been formed in the early oceans. In this interview,
Miller talks about how life may have originated on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.
Keywords: Exobiology, Stanley Miller, primordial soup
Hydrothermal Vents
Hydrothermal vents, found on the abyssal depths associated with zones of seafloor spreading,
have recently been used as a model of a possible chemical environment in which early life
may have evolved. This site describes how current research at the bottom of the ocean seeks
to understand the evolution of life on the surface.
Keywords: hydrothermal vent, origins of life
3.2 The Building Blocks of Macromolecules
Carbohydrates,
Amino Acids, Lipids, and Nucleotides
Biological structures are made up of macromolecules, molecules made up of smaller
"building blocks." This site describes how these large molecules are formed, and how
they are essential to biological reactions.
Keywords: carbohydrate, amino acid, lipid, nucleotide, monomer
3.3 The First Macromolecules
Altman, Cech, and Ribozymes
In 1989, Sidney Altman and Thomas Cech were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry
for their work on the enzymatic capabilities of ribonucleic acids. These pages at the Nobel
Foundation's Website describe their prize-winning research.
Keywords: RNA, ribozyme, Cech, Altman
Ribozymes and the Origin of Life
Altman and Cech's work on the catalytic activity of RNA molecules stimulated new theories
of the origin of biochemical molecules and the early evolution of life on Earth. These
pages describe current research and thought on the abiotic synthesis of biological molecules.
Keywords: RNA, ribozyme, Murchison
3.4 The First Living Entity
Self-Replicating RNA
David Bartel and Jack Szostak are currently trying to produce autocatalytic RNA molecules
in an effort to understand how early organic molecules may have formed the first
self-replicating "organisms." This site describes Bartel's current research and contains
many links related to research on self-replicating RNA.
Keywords: RNA, self-catalysis, ribozyme
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2003
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