Doug.Lawson@p0.f1090.n261.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Doug Lawson) (10/07/90)
I am genuinely interested in this. I remember reading an article in Scientific American afew years ago about it. Can you recommend a few sources? Thanks... --- QM v1.00 * Origin: The Dark Side of the Moon -- WWIV/FIDO/UseNet -- (1:261/1090.0) -- Doug Lawson Internet: Doug.Lawson@p0.f1090.n261.z1.FIDONET.ORG --------------------------------------------------------------------------
jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) (10/14/90)
Doug.Lawson@p0.f1090.n261.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Doug Lawson) wrote: > I am genuinely interested in this. I remember reading an article in > Scientific American a few years ago about it. Can you recommend a few > sources? Thanks... This theory is the brainchild of A.G. Cairns-Smith, who is in the chemistry department here (I haven't met him). He's written at least two books about it: "Genetic Takeover and the Origin of Life" is one. (I can't check the references since our library computer gets shut down whenever the library's closed). Try "Books in Print" or "British Books in Print" for the details. -- -- Jack Campin Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland 041 339 8855 x6044 work 041 556 1878 home JANET: jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk BANG!net: via mcsun and ukc FAX: 041 330 4913 INTERNET: via nsfnet-relay.ac.uk BITNET: via UKACRL UUCP: jack@glasgow.uucp
teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore) (10/17/90)
Thanks Jack! Ive wanted a ref since last xmas. The UCL libertas (on Janet - 000005112800 ) gives the following: AG Cairns-Smith : Genetic takeover and the mineral origin of life (1982) and Seven clues to the origin of life (1985)
ellington@frodo.mgh.harvard.edu (Deaddog) (10/22/90)
I believe the other, more readable, Cairns-Smith book is "Seven Clues to the Origin of Life." But it was still originally an 'RNA world.' Department of Molecular Biology Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Non-woof
teexmmo@ioe.lon.ac.uk (Matthew Moore) (10/24/90)
In article <4482@husc6.harvard.edu> ellington@frodo.mgh.harvard.edu (Deaddog) writes: >I believe the other, more readable, Cairns-Smith book is "Seven Clues to >the Origin of Life." >But it was still originally an 'RNA world.' > (stamps foot) 'and it still spins, all the same!' ?? I am reading '7 clues', and from a preliminary scan, it is a book which should be read by anyone with a serious interest in evolutionary theory. The author presents a review of the field, (unencumbered by references, as it aims to give a lay introduction), in a refreshing and amusing style. 'Difficult' areas, such as the inference that life on Earth had a single origin, because of the universality of the genetic code, are confronted with ease. I will probably give a more thorough review later, in the meantime, the book is clearly good enough to be a christmas present, for several people I know.
beede@sctc.com (Mike Beede) (10/24/90)
>I believe the other, more readable, Cairns-Smith book is "Seven Clues to >the Origin of Life." I disagree. ``Seven Clues to the Origin of Life'' was so incomplete I immediately got a copy of ``Genetic Takeover.'' It was much more satisfying (as well as making a lot of sense). >But it was still originally an 'RNA world.' I did not get the ``RNA World'' conclusion from the book -- did I miss it, or is this just a plausible guess like the rest of the book (no slam, that is the stated purpose of the book). -- Mike Beede Secure Computing Technology Corp beede@sctc.com 1210 W. County Rd E, Suite 100 Arden Hills, MN 55112 (612) 482-7420
Ellington@Frodo.MGH.Harvard.EDU (Deaddog) (10/31/90)
"Seven Clues to the Origin of Life" may be more accessible to the
casual reader. "Genetic Takover" is definitely more rigorous.
I apologize for the abstruse "RNA world" comment. It had nothing to
do with the book per se. While the "genetic takeover" hypothesis is
interesting, a variety of recent research suggests that a self-contained metabolism using nucleic acids as both information-carriers and catalysts
could have evolved de novo. This hypothesis has been loosely referred to
as the "RNA world". To the extent that the "RNA world" was self-organizing, a "genetic takeover" is logically unnecessary. Nevertheless, it still may have happened as Cairns-Smith envisions; it is difficult to pin down the events of 4 bya (although we're trying).
Dept. Mol. Biol.
Mass. General Hospital
Non-woof