Information is one of the first words that comes up whenever people try to define life. Any living system must be able to store information and pass them on to the next generation. The stored information are instructions used to build the structures and functions necessary for cellular life to operate such as metabolism, membranes, … Continue reading Origin of protein translation: a factory that built itself
Since the very beginning of life, organisms have needed a way to store and pass on information. Current knowledge suggests that the first form of genetic information was stored in ribonucleic acid (RNA). Over time, life invented DNA, a chemically more stable molecule, for long-term information storage and faithful inheritance across generations. This genetic information … Continue reading DNA Replication and Convergent Evolution: How Life Reinvented a Core Process
You probably had a common cold sometime in the last three months. Surely, you wondered which of your close contacts was the origin of the infection. I will give an answer, but I will start from the very beginning. In this article, I will discuss the evolution of viruses and how it differs from that … Continue reading Viruses: The Ultimate Genetic Engineers
When you see two teams you don't know playing a sport or watch a movie for the first time, you will often take sides and cheer for a specific team or character to win. Taking sides is a fundamental human trait. Of course, we are not here to discuss psychology or social sciences. Instead, I … Continue reading Taking Sides in Science: A Path to Progress or Pitfall?
Nucleic acids and proteins are the backbone of most biological processes within the cell. The flow of information from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA) and then to proteins defines the central dogma of molecular biology. Transcription involves generating mRNA from a DNA sequence, transferring information from one nucleic acid molecule to another. The subsequent step, … Continue reading Non-Canonical Roles of tRNA: tRNAs in the Dynamic Soup of the Cell
RNA biology has won two consecutive Nobel Prizes in 2023 and 2024. Along with other groundbreaking discoveries, these Nobel Prize-winning advancements in RNA biology have significantly impacted the field of molecular biology and continue to challenge some of our central ideas about life and gene regulation. One of the best examples supporting this notion is … Continue reading The Evolution of the Central Dogma: Insights from RNA Biology
Transcription regulation lets an organism "pull out" from its genome what it needs when it needs it and "put it back" until itās needed again. However, some organisms prefer to ākeepā everything in front of them and use it on the spot. They essentially transcribe everything at once, with some differences that weāll discuss later, … Continue reading Breaking the Mold: Exploring Polycistronic Transcription in Eukaryotes
RNA Stuff 