The Double Life of RNA—The 1995 Webcast Lectures
Presented by HHMI investigator and Nobel laureate Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D
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Lecture One—Catalysis: Chemical and Biochemical
At the most fundamental level, life processes are chemical
reactions. Left to themselves, however, those reactions would
occur too slowly and nonspecifically to sustain life. Cellular
enzymes serve as catalysts, taming the reactions by accelerating
them, lending specificity, and regulating their time and place.
Dr. Cech demonstrates some principles of biological catalysis
with simple chemical examples.
Lecture Two—RNA as an Enzyme: Discovery, Origins of Life, and Medical Possibilities
Like most scientific advances, the discovery of catalytic
activity in RNA led to unexpected spinoffs. One of these spinoffs
is a new, more plausible scenario for the origin of life on
Earth. The ability of RNA enzymes (ribozymes) to cut and splice
other RNA molecules has also sparked intense effort to develop
them as pharmaceuticals directed against viruses, cancer,
and genetic diseases.
Lecture Three—How to Accelerate a Reaction a Hundred Billion Times Using Only RNA
RNA and protein are built from different chemical units and
are assembled in different ways. Thus, the discovery that
RNA exhibits catalytic activity rivaling that of traditional
protein enzymes was unexpected. Recent studies of catalytic
centers composed of RNA have revealed much about their structure
and mode of action.
Lecture Four—Life at the End of the Chromosome
Chromosomes of humans and other eukaryotes contain linear
DNA molecules. The chromosome ends, or telomeres, are specialized
structures necessary for DNA stability and replication. Telomere
replication is carried out by an unusual enzyme, telomerase,
whose RNA subunit acts as a template for telomeric DNA synthesis.
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