Putting the Cell in Order

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
Franklin M. Harold
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Mother Cell ◽  
General Public ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Interactive Systems ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Biological Organization ◽  
Cell Organization

Organization is one of the most conspicuous features of cells. Not only are cells highly ordered (in the sense of regularity and predictability), but also they are organized: their order has purpose, or function. How does biological organization arise, and how is it transmitted from one generation to the next? A key element is genetic information encoded in DNA. Many scientists hold that DNA is the master molecule of life that prescribes all that cells are and do, and the general public has swallowed that doctrine whole. There is truth in this view of biological organization, inasmuch as genes do specify the chemical structure (and thereby the function) of proteins, nucleic acids, and (indirectly) many other biomolecules. But that is only part of an increasingly complex story. The higher levels of cell organization are not spelled out in the genes; they arise by self-organization, and are commonly transmitted to the next generation because the mother cell is architecturally continuous with its daughter. DNA provides an indispensable database, but does not direct the show. Organisms are better understood as complex interactive systems composed of genetically specified elements.

scholarly journals Nucleic Acids Chemistry and Engineering: Special Issue on Nucleic Acid Conjugates for Biotechnological Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3594
Author(s):  
Tamaki Endoh ◽  
Eriks Rozners ◽  
Takashi Ohtsuki
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Biotechnological Applications ◽  
Biological Functions ◽  
Primary Sequence ◽  
Special Issue

Nucleic acids not only store genetic information in their primary sequence but also exhibit biological functions through the formation of their unique structures [...]

The New Synthesis

2018 ◽  
pp. 235-245
Author(s):  
Erika Lorraine Milam
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
New Synthesis ◽  
Genetic Information Processing ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Natural And Sexual Selection

This chapter discusses new understandings of humanity from the 1960s onward. It shows how a particular group of scientists struggled with the question of human nature by conceiving of natural and sexual selection as acting at the level of individuals, who in turn served as genetic-information processing units. A trait could not spread in a population unless it conferred some advantage to the individuals who possessed it, allowing them to contribute more copies of their genes to the next generation of that population than other individuals. These struggles are furthermore framed within a period when sociobiology was just starting to get a foothold in academics.

scholarly journals De Novo Nucleic Acids: A Review of Synthetic Alternatives to DNA and RNA That Could Act as Bio-Information Storage Molecules

Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 346
Author(s):  
Kevin G Devine ◽  
Sohan Jheeta
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Amino Acid Sequences ◽  
Information Storage ◽  
Heterocyclic Base ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Phosphate Backbone ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Modern terran life uses several essential biopolymers like nucleic acids, proteins and polysaccharides. The nucleic acids, DNA and RNA are arguably life’s most important, acting as the stores and translators of genetic information contained in their base sequences, which ultimately manifest themselves in the amino acid sequences of proteins. But just what is it about their structures; an aromatic heterocyclic base appended to a (five-atom ring) sugar-phosphate backbone that enables them to carry out these functions with such high fidelity? In the past three decades, leading chemists have created in their laboratories synthetic analogues of nucleic acids which differ from their natural counterparts in three key areas as follows: (a) replacement of the phosphate moiety with an uncharged analogue, (b) replacement of the pentose sugars ribose and deoxyribose with alternative acyclic, pentose and hexose derivatives and, finally, (c) replacement of the two heterocyclic base pairs adenine/thymine and guanine/cytosine with non-standard analogues that obey the Watson–Crick pairing rules. This manuscript will examine in detail the physical and chemical properties of these synthetic nucleic acid analogues, in particular on their abilities to serve as conveyors of genetic information. If life exists elsewhere in the universe, will it also use DNA and RNA?

scholarly journals Modified Nucleic Acids: Expanding the Capabilities of Functional Oligonucleotides

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (20) ◽  
pp. 4659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Ochoa ◽  
Valeria T. Milam
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Chemical Diversity ◽  
Physiochemical Properties ◽  
Phosphate Backbone ◽  
Modified Nucleic Acids ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Diagnostic Applications

In the last three decades, oligonucleotides have been extensively investigated as probes, molecular ligands and even catalysts within therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The narrow chemical repertoire of natural nucleic acids, however, imposes restrictions on the functional scope of oligonucleotides. Initial efforts to overcome this deficiency in chemical diversity included conservative modifications to the sugar-phosphate backbone or the pendant base groups and resulted in enhanced in vivo performance. More importantly, later work involving other modifications led to the realization of new functional characteristics beyond initial intended therapeutic and diagnostic prospects. These results have inspired the exploration of increasingly exotic chemistries highly divergent from the canonical nucleic acid chemical structure that possess unnatural physiochemical properties. In this review, the authors highlight recent developments in modified oligonucleotides and the thrust towards designing novel nucleic acid-based ligands and catalysts with specifically engineered functions inaccessible to natural oligonucleotides.

scholarly journals Self-Propulsion Enhances Polymerization

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximino Aldana ◽  
Miguel Fuentes-Cabrera ◽  
Martín Zumaya
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
The Self ◽  
Biological Molecules ◽  
Bonding Energy ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
External Energy ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Spontaneous Process ◽  
Propulsion Force

Self-assembly is a spontaneous process through which macroscopic structures are formed from basic microscopic constituents (e.g., molecules or colloids). By contrast, the formation of large biological molecules inside the cell (such as proteins or nucleic acids) is a process more akin to self-organization than to self-assembly, as it requires a constant supply of external energy. Recent studies have tried to merge self-assembly with self-organization by analyzing the assembly of self-propelled (or active) colloid-like particles whose motion is driven by a permanent source of energy. Here we present evidence that points to the fact that self-propulsion considerably enhances the assembly of polymers: self-propelled molecules are found to assemble faster into polymer-like structures than non self-propelled ones. The average polymer length increases towards a maximum as the self-propulsion force increases. Beyond this maximum, the average polymer length decreases due to the competition between bonding energy and disruptive forces that result from collisions. The assembly of active molecules might have promoted the formation of large pre-biotic polymers that could be the precursors of the informational polymers we observe nowadays.

scholarly journals Properties and reactivity of nucleic acids relevant to epigenomics, transcriptomics, and therapeutics

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 2637-2655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Gillingham ◽  
Stefanie Geigle ◽  
O. Anatole von Lilienfeld
Keyword(s):  
Next Generation Sequencing ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Selective chemistry combined with next generation sequencing is enabling the transcriptomics and epigenomics revolutions.

scholarly journals Investigation of the Chemical Structure of Ultra-Thin Polyimide Substrate for the Xenon Flash Lamp Lift-off Technology

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 546
Author(s):  
Seong Hyun Jang ◽  
Young Joon Han ◽  
Sang Yoon Lee ◽  
Geonho Lee ◽  
Jae Woong Jung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flexible Electronics ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Surface Characteristics ◽  
Dielectric Constants ◽  
Flash Lamp ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Polyimide Films ◽  
Chemical Structures ◽  
Polyimide Substrate ◽  
Lift Off

Lift-off is one of the last steps in the production of next-generation flexible electronics. It is important that this step is completed quickly to prevent damage to ultrathin manufactured electronics. This study investigated the chemical structure of polyimide most suitable for the Xe Flash lamp–Lift-Off process, a next-generation lift-off technology that will replace the current dominant laser lift-off process. Based on the characteristics of the peeled-off polyimide films, the Xe Flash lamp based lift-off mechanism was identified as photothermal decomposition. This occurs by thermal conduction via light-to-heat conversion. The synthesized polyimide films treated with the Xe Flash lamp–Lift-Off process exhibited various thermal, optical, dielectric, and surface characteristics depending on their chemical structures. The polyimide molecules with high concentrations of –CF3 functional groups and kinked chemical structures demonstrated the most promising peeling properties, optical transparencies, and dielectric constants. In particular, an ultra-thin polyimide substrate (6 μm) was successfully fabricated and showed potential for use in next-generation flexible electronics.

scholarly journals Chemical structure of QAII, one of the covalently bound adducts of carcinogenic 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide with nucleic acid bases of cellular nucleic acids.

1975 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 3041-3043 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUTAKA KAWAZOE ◽  
MISAKO ARAKI ◽  
GUANGFU HUANG ◽  
TOSHIHIKO OKAMOTO ◽  
MITSUHIKO TADA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Nucleic Acid Bases ◽  
Covalently Bound
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