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The Genetic Mechanism and the Origin of Life

As shown in the text, there can be little doubt that the genetic mechanism is, for all practical purposes, equivalent to life itself. Consequently, it is unrealistic to seek knowledge of the origin of life and its subsequent evolution without si­ multaneously searching for an understanding of how th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dillon, Lawrence
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: New York, NY Springer US 1978, 1978
Edition:1st ed. 1978
Subjects:
Evolutionary Biology
Evolution (biology)
Online Access:
Collection: Springer Book Archives -2004 - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Table of Contents:
  • 1. Origins of Life’s Ingredients
  • 1.1. The Setting
  • 1.2. Prebiotic Syntheses (Stage I)
  • 1.3. Prebiotic Polymerization (Stage II)
  • 1.4. Summary
  • 2. The Precellular, or Simple Interacting Systems, Level (Stage III)
  • 2.1. Synthetic Models of Protobionts
  • 2.2. Autocatalysis
  • 2.3. The Present Status of the Life Origins Problem—A Critical Assessment
  • 3. The Genetic Mechanism: I. DNA, Nucleoids, and Chromatin
  • 3.1. Introduction
  • 3.2. The Focal Ingredients
  • 3.3. The Key Macromolecule
  • 3.4. Replication of DNA
  • 3.5. Chromatin and the Chromosome
  • 4. The Genetic Mechanism: II. the Cell’s Employment of DNA
  • 4.1. The Types of Ribonucleic Acid
  • 4.2. Translation and Protein Synthesis
  • 5. The Genetic Mechanism: III. Transcription, Processing, and an Analytical Synopsis
  • 5.1. Transcription of the DNA Molecule
  • 5.2. An Alternative Protein-Synthesizing System
  • 5.3. An Annotated Synopsis—Summary and Analysis
  • 6. Micromolecular Evolution—The Origin of the Genetic Code
  • 6.1. Conceptual Approaches
  • 6.2. Mathematical Concepts
  • 6.3. Biochemical Approaches
  • 6.4. A Biological Concept
  • 7. The Transfer Ribonucleic Acids
  • 7.1. The Characteristic Molecular Features of tRNAs
  • 7.2. Codon—Anticodon Interactions
  • 7.3. Summary of tRNA Structural Features
  • 8. Reactive Sites and the Evolution of Transfer RNAs
  • 8.1. Reactive Sites of tRNAs
  • 8.2. Evolutionary Relations of tRNAs
  • 8.3. Origin and Evolution of tRNA
  • 9. The Genetic Mechanism of Viruses
  • DNA Viruses
  • RNA Viruses
  • 10. The Origin of Early Life
  • 10.1. A Preliminary Definition of Life
  • 10.2. The Distinctive Characteristics of Viruses
  • 10.3. Possible Steps in the Origins of Early Life
  • References

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