Talk:Ribosome
From Academic Kids
It would be useful to describe theories how ribosomes were created in evolution.
Yes, it would. But it might also be premature to commit such a discussion to an encyclopedia, as work testing a leading hypothesis has really just started to be published. The Noller lab, in gradually stripping proteins from native ribosomes without totally destroying activity, helped advance the idea that the RNA, rather than the proteins, participate in crucial ribosome function. More recently, the Strobel lab has been trying to identify more exactly (large subunit RNA is still a huge molecule!) what part of the RNA is responsible for peptidyl transfer:
G. W. Muth, L. Ortoleva-Donnelly and S. A. Strobel, A single adenosine with a neutral pK[a] in the ribosomal peptidyl transferase center, Science 289, 947-950 (2000).
It might be useful to have a good idea of how it all works before going very far in trying to describe inferences as to how it came to work that way.
It is true that theories about the evolution of ribosomes, although extremely intriguing, are quite speculative at this time. However, it may be useful to mention the auto-catalytic capabilities of RNA molecules in general (the 'RNA world' hypothesis) as a possible starting point for the modern translational machinery. Wikipedia link: RNA_world
WK
Simplified Structural Image
It would be nice if there is a simplified image of the ribosome at the head of the document and then using the highly detailed structural images in the mid-section. I'm in the process of finding a diagram for this purpose as well as for the translation page. --G3pro 13:59, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)
