Ribozymes: Could anything be more awesome?

Indulge my nerdgasm, please.

Every once in a while I start to miss working with RNA, and I really miss learning about RNA. It's the coolest nucleic acid, hands down. As Bjork is to Britney Spears, RNA is to DNA. As flan is to vanilla pudding, RNA is to DNA. As heroin or "horse" is to whippets, RNA is to DNA. Etc, etc, etc.

I may be a little hyperbolic in making these statements, because after all DNA is the template from which RNA is synthesized, but there is no doubt that RNA is infinitely more versatile and mysterious. Also, while those two playboy hacks [or "History's Hottest Doubleteam"] Watson and Crick are the first people that come to mind when one thinks about DNA, legitimately sexy names like Tom Cech [see the post "Old men that I want and why I want them" in my other blog] spring to mind when one thinks of RNA.

So today I thought I would look up one of my favorite things about RNA: its ability to catalyze reactions. That's right, RNA isn't just a boring single-stranded thing whose only purpose is to encode a protein-- it is capable of catalysis just like an enzyme-- and often it performs its catalysis with MORE fidelity than an enzyme can muster. I found this wonderful outline, with diagrams, of what is known regarding RNA's ability to catalyze reactions:

http://nobelprize.org/chemistry/articles/cech/

It's written by Tom Cech, and I think it's pretty darned interesting. Also, bringing up the "RNA World Hypothesis" at any social event will make you appear at least ten times more attractive than you really are.