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. 2014 Dec;6(12):a016089. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a016089

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Alternative to the central dogma of molecular biology. The left part depicts the original central dogma of molecular biology with several adjustments incorporated, for example, the discovery of reverse transcription (thin upward arrow) (Crick 1958, 1970). The grouping on the right better reflects the evolutionary transitions and primacy of RNA. RNA could be replicated directly (semicircular arrow), albeit in extant organisms (e.g., plants, viruses) only with the catalytic activity of protein (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase). In this scheme, catalysis is indicated by (RNA) and or (protein) in parentheses. The major significance of RNAs for peptidyl transferase activity during translation (Noller 2012) is represented by the larger font for (RNA) compared to (Protein). Execution includes structural, catalytic, and regulatory tasks in the cell. The evolutionary developments underscore Stephen Jay Gould’s view that DNA merely is the agent of bookkeeping (Gould 2002). RNAs used to be bookkeepers as well, but remained agents of causality (Brosius 2005a).