Concept 26 RNA was the first genetic molecule.

Links

The Double Life of RNA

This site has video clips from Dr. Thomas Cech's 1995 lecture about RNA given at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Cosmic Ancestry

This site has articles, references, and theories relating to the origin of life and whether life could have come to Earth from outer space. There is an updated What's New page with interesting science facts.

Scientists Debate RNA's Role at the Beginning of Life on Earth

This 1997 story was published in The Scientist. It introduces most of the scientists currently working in the field of RNA as the first genetic molecule.

The Genetics of Human Evolution

An interview with Alan Weiner and Nancy Maisels. Both are molecular biologists at Yale University with an interest in the origins of life. The interview is posted on the DNA Files, a web site from the National Public Radio.

An Interview with Dr. Stanley Miller

A 1996 interview with Dr. Stanley Miller about exobiology. Posted on the Access Excellence site.

Bibliography

• Alberts, Bruce et al., 1983, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Garland Publishing Inc., New York.
• Calvin, Melvin, 1969, Chemical Evolution: Molecular Evolution Towards the Origin of Living Systems on Earth and Elsewhere, Oxford University Press, New York.
• Dunn, L.C., 1991, A Short History of Genetics: The Development of Some of the Main Lines of Thought: 1864-1939, Iowa State University Press, Ames.
• Judson, Horace Freeland, 1979, The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology, Simon and Schuster, New York.
• Lagerkvist, Ulf, 1998, DNA Pioneers and Their Legacy, Yale University Press, New Haven.
• Miller, Stanley L., and Orgel, Leslie E., 1974, The Origins of Life on the Earth, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey.
• Miller, Stanley L., 1974, "The First Laboratory Synthesis of Organic Compounds under Primitive Earth Conditions," published in: The Heritage of Copernicus: Theories "Pleasing to the Mind,", pp. 228-242, ed., J. Neyman, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
• Rosenfield, Israel, Ziff, Edward, and Van Loon, Borin, 1983, DNA for Beginners, Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc.
• Thomas, Shirley, Men of Space: Life in Space. Chilton Books, Philadephia.
• Watson, James D., Gilman, Michael, Witkowski, Jan, Zoller, Mark, 1982, Recombinant DNA, 2nd edition, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York.
• Woese, Carl R., 1967, The Genetic Code: The Molecular Basis for Genetic Expression, Harper & Row, New York.