Title:

On Degenerate Templates and the Adaptor Hypothesis: A Note for the RNA Tie Club

Creator:

Crick, Francis, 1916-2004

Date:

1955

Description:

In this, one of the most important unpublished articles in the history of science, Crick predicted the existence of adaptor molecules and enzymes for each of the twenty common amino acids. These adaptors, which were in fact found shortly thereafter and were later named transfer RNA, were essential in assembling amino acids into the polypeptide chains of which proteins consist. Moreover, Crick here introduced the concept of a "degenerate" genetic code, meaning a code in which more than one combination of DNA bases could specify a particular amino acid, as was later shown to be the case.. The RNA Tie Club was a group of twenty molecular biologists (one for each amino acid) chosen by the physicist and cosmologist George Gamow in 1953 to stimulate the exchange of ideas about the nature of the genetic code.

Original Repository:

The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers

Location:

Box: 72. Folder: PP/CRI/H/1/38

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. and http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/

Genre:

Articles

Subject:

Genetic Code and RNA

Format:

Text

Extent:

18 pages

Relation:

Letter from James D. Watson to Francis Crick, 1955

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Original Repository. Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers. 11646. URL. http://archives.wellcome.ac.uk/

Legacy ID:

SCBBGF

NLM ID:

101584582X73

Profiles Collection:

The Francis Crick Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X73

Story Section:

Defining the Genetic Coding Problem, 1954-1957