JTW's Evolutionary Origins - Author: Lahav, Noam

RNA preceeded DNA

• The synthesis of deoxyribonucleotides in the cells of all living organisms is carried out by reduction of preexisting ribonucleotides and catalyzed by a specific enzyme.
  
  
• It is known that protein synthesis can sometimes take place without DNA, but never in the absence of RNA.
  
  
• ATP, not a deoxyadenosine triphosphate, plays a central role in the cell as an energy carrier.
  
  
• Catalytic cofactors such as NAD, NADP, FAD, and coenzyme A are conjugated molecules containing adenosine, not a deoxyadenosine moiety (see for instance, de Duve, 1993; Maurel 1992a, 1992b; Sievers et. al., 1994).

• Lahav, Noam
  • Biogenesis: Theories of Life's Origins
  • Oxford University Press, Inc.
  • QH 325.L24 1999

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