© 1999 • 709 pp., illus., color plates, appendices, index
Paper • ISBN  0-87969-589-7

This title also available in: Cloth

As both an informational molecule and a catalyst, RNA may hold clues to the emergence of genetic self-replication and the origins of life. The first, 1993 edition of this important work was acclaimed as unique and authoritative. The new edition has been revised, updated, and extended, and offers a completely current perspective on the modern world of RNA and the light it sheds on a prebiotic era perhaps dominated by this extraordinarily versatile molecule. This book is essential reading for everyone interested in the biology of nucleic acids, and is a valuable resource for teaching as well as investigative science.

  "…rich source of information and indispensable reading for researchers investigating the biology of nucleic acids. Because of its wider scope, The RNA World will also attract nonspecialist readers interested in how life on Earth may have originated and evolved."
      —Science

  "The book contains a wealth of information in a condensed form and thus, for some years to come, will constitute a gold mine of bibliographic value even for those specializing in the various areas that are covered…. All in all, a great book!"
      —Cell

  "Although it is fun, speculation about origins in the absence of much data is not the inclination of most people who study RNA. Fortunately, the origin of life is not the only topic covered by this book. This volume, like the last, also provides excellent reviews of many aspects of RNA function, each written by an expert in the field. We believe that it is this second objective of The RNA World that makes it most useful to RNA specialists and nonspecialists alike."
      —RNA

  "Overall, the book is splendid and a ‘must’ for serious practitioners in the field. It is also essential for students taking graduate courses in nucleic acids; The RNA World should get them excited about being part of the scientific enterprise that brings RNA back to the future."
      —Trends in Biochemical Sciences

Preface

Foreword to the First Edition, Francis Crick

Prologue to the First Edition, James D. Watson

The Origins of RNA and RNA at the Origin

Chapter 1: Before RNA and After: Geophysical and Geochemical Constraints on Molecular Evolution (Stephen J. Mojzsis, R. Krishnamurthy, and Gustaf Arrhenius)

Chapter 2: Prospects for Understanding the Origin of the RNA World (Gerald F. Joyce and Leslie E. Orgel)

Chapter 3: The Genomic Tag Hypothesis: What Molecular Fossils Tell Us about the Evolution of tRNA (Nancy Maizels and Alan M. Weiner)

Chapter 4: Probing RNA Structure, Function, and History by Comparative Analysis (Norman R. Pace, Brian C. Thomas, and Carl R. Woese)

Chapter 5: Re-creating an RNA Replicase (David P. Bartel)

Chapter 6: Did the RNA World Exploit an Expanded Genetic Alphabet? (Steven A.Benner, Petra Burgstaller, Thomas R. Battersby, and Simona Jurczyk)

Chapter 7: Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases and Self-acylating Ribozymes (Michael Yarus and Mali Illangasekare)

Chapter 8: On the Origin of the Ribosome: Coevolution of Subdomains of tRNA and rRNA (Harry F. Noller)

Chapter 9: Introns and the RNA World (Walter Gilbert and Sandro J. de Souza)

How to Build a Functional RNA

Chapter 10: The Interactions that Shape RNA Structure (Mark E. Burkard, Douglas H. Turner, and Ignacio Tinoco, Jr.)

Chapter 11: Small Ribozymes (David B. McKay and Joseph E. Wedekind)

Chapter 12: The Role of Metal Ions in RNA Biochemistry (Andrew L. Feig and Olke C. Uhlenbeck)

Chapter 13: Building a Catalytic Active Site Using Only RNA (Thomas R. Cech and Barbara L. Golden)

Chapter 14: Ribonuclease P (Sidney Altman and Leif Kirsebom)

Chapter 15: The RNA Folding Problem (Peter B. Moore)

Transition to the RNP World

Chapter 16: RNA Interaction with Small Ligands and Peptides (Joseph D. Puglisi and James R. Williamson)

Chapter 17: RNA Recognition by Proteins (Thomas A. Steitz)

Chapter 18: Group I and Group II Ribozymes as RNPs: Clues to the Past and Guides to the Future (Alan M. Lambowitz, Mark G. Caprara, Steven Zimmerly, and Philip S. Perlman)

Chapter 19: The Growing World of Small Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins (Yi-Tao Yu, Elizabeth C. Scharl, Christine M. Smith, and Joan A. Steitz)

Chapter 20: Splicing of Precursors to mRNAs by the Spliceosomes (Christopher B. Burge, Thomas Tuschl, and Phillip A. Sharp)

Chapter 21: tRNA Splicing: An RNA World Add-on or an Ancient Reaction? (Christopher R. Trotta and John Abelson)

Chapter 22: RNA Editing—An Evolutionary Perspective (Larry Simpson)

Chapter 23: Telomerase (Elizabeth H. Blackburn)

Chapter 24: Dynamics of the Genetic Code (John F. Atkins, August Böck, Senya Matsufuji, and Raymond F. Gesteland)

Appendices

1. Structures of Base Pairs Involving at Least Two Hydrogen Bonds (Mark E. Burkard, Douglas H. Turner, and Ignacio Tinoco, Jr.)

2. Schematic Diagrams of Secondary and Tertiary Structure Elements (Mark E. Burkard, Douglas H. Turner, and Ignacio Tinoco, Jr.)

3. Reactions Catalyzed by RNA and DNA Enzymes (Gerald F. Joyce)

4. Visualization of Elongation Factor Tu on the 70S E. coli Ribosome (Holger Stark, Marin van Heel, Marina Rodnina, Wolfgang Wintermeyer, and Richard Brimacombe)

5. The Large Ribosomal Subunit from H. marismortui at 9 Å Resolution (Nenad Ban, Peter B. Moore, and Thomas A. Steitz)

Index