["The coding problem is essentially a theoretical problem..."]

Date:
[c. 1957]
Reference:
PP/CRI/H/2/24
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: ["The coding problem is essentially a theoretical problem..."]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/15
    The coding problem is essentially a theoretical problem. «ïar_ e^s-s-esee Jit concerns the relationship between nucleic acids and beh-»««,* proteins and in particular¿the order of the components in the nucleic acids and the order of the components in the proteins. X-thought I wmâbi start by ¿ug± reveiwing very briefly the experimental evidence that there is some sort of relationship alth-ough Most of you will know this evidence fairly well. the argument goes something like this: firstly we have some evi dence that genetic information is carried at CLeast in part by the nucleic acids. In the case of DM the evidence is steô3age«t for transforming factor and quite good for bacteriophage. Por RNA the best evidence is ¿from tobacco mosaic virus. It is important to notice that all that has been shown is that p art of the,information ~~~~ l( ~ ÌAj is carried by the nucleic acid. We cannot say that tfcrey carrg. all the information. Well, -going on -fromtherey Le^ o o -rip&rnF! wVia± wo Vnnw ah. the structure of the nucleic tr & JOfb.lL. tízj- acids, and rea l i# this means the structure of DNA. It lo-oks-as-ii the configuration of DNA is rather a regular one and this suggests that the information is not in the way the molecule is folded and therefore that it is in the actual s equen ce of the four bases« aa$t fì-UfraOi*' ^it is c^pt^i2î3=y easier to explain the stability of the genetic j material if it depends on chemic al bonds rather than on some folding^aïygââagfiôesst held together by weak bonds. 'WSyifx -£° í ar I have sigapay talked about genetical information . YnwyV ^now h8jg£-*#o ask what this information