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 this apparatus arose and evolved. Fortunately, the annual publication over the recent years of thousandS" of papers dealing with the genetic processes has brought the state of knowledge to a level where a synthesis of their major details in relation to life's history is feasible. Because of the voluminous body of literature, no single book can pos sibly treat all the ramifications of this fundamental subject; subdivision into multiple volumes is necessary. This volume, the first of a trilogy, explores the molecular aspects of the problem in connection with the precellular aspects up to the point of the origin of the cell. The second, currently in progress, is con cerned with the subsequent evolution of the cell as revealed by the energy related organelles and their genetic apparatuses and by ultrastructural details of other cellular parts. The third volume, as presently planned, deals with devel opmental, immunological, and other complexities at the organismic level and, in so doing, throws additional light on basic properties of the genetic processes themselves. Thus, the genetic apparatus provides the warp, and evolution the woof, of the intricate fabric that emerges.

The Genetic Mechanism and the Origin of Life

Science & Math

Dillon, Lawrence S.

Biological Sciences

Plenum Pub Corp

Thus far in the history of biology, two, and only two, fundamental principles have come to light that pervade and unify the entire science-the cell theory and the concept of evolution. While it is true that recently opened fields of inves tigation have given rise to several generalizations of wide impact, such as the universality of DNA and the energetic dynamics of ecology, closer inspection reveals them to be part and parcel of either of the first two mentioned. Because in the final analysis energy can act upon an organism solely at the cellular level, its effects may be perceived basically to represent one facet of cell me tabolism. Similarly, because the DNA theory centers upon the means by which cells build proteins and reproduce themselves, it too proves to be only one more, even though an exciting, aspect of the cell theory. In fact, if the matter is given closer scrutiny, evolution itself can be viewed as being a fundamental portion of the cell concept, for its effects arise only as a consequence of changes in the cell's genetic apparatus accumulating over geological time. Or, if one wishes, the diametrically opposite standpoint may be taken. For, if current concepts of the origin of life hold any validity, the evolution of precellular organisms from the primordial biochemicals must have proceeded over many eons of time prior to the advent of even the most primitive cell.

Ultrastructure, Macromolecules, and Evolution

New York, Plenum Press, [

Animal variety: An evolutionary account

W.C. Brown Co

Animal Variety: An Evolutionary Account

William C Brown Pub

Evolution: concepts and consequences

THE C.V.MOSBY COMPANY

Thus far in the history of biology, two, and only two, fundamental principles have come to light that pervade and unify the entire science-the cell theory and the concept of evolution. While it is true that recently opened fields of inves­ tigation have given rise to several generalizations of wide impact, such as the universality of DNA and the energetic dynamics of ecology, closer inspection reveals them to be part and parcel of either of the first two mentioned. Because in the final analysis energy can act upon an organism solely at the cellular level, its effects may be perceived basically to represent one facet of cell me­ tabolism. Similarly, because the DNA theory centers upon the means by which cells build proteins and reproduce themselves, it too proves to be only one more, even though an exciting, aspect of the cell theory. In fact, if the matter is given closer scrutiny, evolution itself can be viewed as being a fundamental portion of the cell concept, for its effects arise only as a consequence of changes in the cell's genetic apparatus accumulating over geological time. Or, if one wishes, the diametrically opposite standpoint may be taken. For, if current concepts of the origin of life hold any validity, the evolution of precellular organisms from the primordial biochemicals must have proceeded over many eons of time prior to the advent of even the most primitive cell.

Springer

Major Features of the Gene.- The Enzymes of Transcription and Transfer RNA Genes.- The 5 S Ribosomal and Other Small RNAs.- The Remaining Ribosomal RNA Genes.- Nucleic Acid-Associated Protein Genes.- Genes for Energy-Related Proteins.- Complex Genes.- Assembled Genes.- Transposable Elements.- Viral Genes -- Structure and Controls.- The Gene in Cancer.- Processing the Primary Transcripts.

The Gene: Its Structure, Function, and Evolution

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