The Signature in the Cell

A discussion based on the book by Stephen Meyer

Rod Nave, Ph.D., Dept of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University

The Simple Cell

The cell is a simple homogenous globule of plasm" T. H. Huxley, 1869 "Darwin's bulldog"

DNA and the Genetic Code

Taken in three-base "codons", each triplet of bases along DNA unambiguously specifies a particular amino acid.

A True Code

Transcription

According to Karp, the RNA polymerase is capable of adding 20 to 50 nucleotides per second to the growing mRNA chain. Electron microscope images suggest that there can be over a hundred RNA polymerases operating simultaneously. So the cell nucleus is like a programmed factory for mRNA with over 100 parallel assembly stations. Each station can build a 400 unit mRNA chain in 10 to 20 seconds.

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