Recommendable! Nice overview article!
"... Then, somehow, something special emerged: a simple machine, a pocket made of RNAs, with the ability to place amino acids next to one another and maybe link them into chains. This was the macromolecule that would gradually evolve into the ribosome, the RNA–protein complex responsible for translating genetic information into proteins. Its birth — the details of which remain hypothetical — would have created a fundamental shift in this prebiotic, RNA-dominated world, providing a key ingredient to all life as we know it ...
Deep in the core of the large subunit was a semi-symmetrical segment. This region contained a pocket-like structure, made of ribosomal RNA, called the peptidyl transferase centre (PTC). During the translation of mRNA into protein, when two amino acids are placed in the PTC, it creates conditions for them to click together. And, although the specific nucleotide sequence of the structure varied between species, the shape was the same in every example, suggesting that it’s crucial to the ribosome’s ability to support life ...
if the primitive protoribosome worked at all, it would probably be inefficient, yielding a minute amount of dipeptide. Rather than separating the reaction products by size, ... turned to mass spectrometry, which had advanced to become the most sensitive method by this time. It still wasn’t easy ... performed many reactions and control experiments, and tried two forms of mass spectrometry — but at last, ... a peak representing the expected dipeptide ..."
Deep in the core of the large subunit was a semi-symmetrical segment. This region contained a pocket-like structure, made of ribosomal RNA, called the peptidyl transferase centre (PTC). During the translation of mRNA into protein, when two amino acids are placed in the PTC, it creates conditions for them to click together. And, although the specific nucleotide sequence of the structure varied between species, the shape was the same in every example, suggesting that it’s crucial to the ribosome’s ability to support life ...
if the primitive protoribosome worked at all, it would probably be inefficient, yielding a minute amount of dipeptide. Rather than separating the reaction products by size, ... turned to mass spectrometry, which had advanced to become the most sensitive method by this time. It still wasn’t easy ... performed many reactions and control experiments, and tried two forms of mass spectrometry — but at last, ... a peak representing the expected dipeptide ..."
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