I love classic literature! Classic biochemistry papers that is! Not only are their findings fundamental, but the articles tend to be more detailed and easier to read (though not always!). So here’s a guide to some (but certainly not all) key early experiments and writings involved in figuring out how biochemical recipes are written!
link to video in case embed isn’t working: https://youtu.be/ij5jD_3ReSs
- Figuring out genetic information can be shared (& studied!) & “transform” one form of bacteria into another
- Griffith, 1928 – the “transforming principle”
Griffith found there was a transforming principle, but what was it?
- Figuring out DNA is the transferer of genetic information
- Avery, MacLeod, & McCarty, 1944
- Hershey & Chase, 1952 (blender experiments)
DNA was the transforming principle, not protein! But DNA holds the instructions for making protein!
- Showing a direct, heritable link between DNA sequence and protein sequence
- Pauling et al., 1949
- Ingram, Ingram & Hunt, 1956
and here’s how it’s read
- Figuring out the genetic code is non-overlapping
- Brenner, 1957; Tsugita & Fraenkel-Conrat, 1960; Wittman, 1966
- cracking the genetic code (what nucleic acid “words” (codons) “spell” (code for) which protein “letters”)
- Nirenberg, Matthaei, 1961 – “polyU experiment”
- Nirenberg and Leder, 1964 – “filter-binding experiments”
- in addition to work by others including; Khorana; Grunberg-Manago, Oritz, & Ochoa
Links to my blog posts & videos, and their papers:
- Griffith’s experiments:
- blog link: http://bit.ly/griffithsexperiment
- Paper: Griffith F. (1928). The Significance of Pneumococcal Types. The Journal of hygiene, 27(2), 113–159. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022172400031879
- Avery, MacLeod, & McCarty
- Blog: https://bit.ly/avery_experiments
- YouTube: https://youtu.be/HgmFONBNUKU
- Paper: Avery, O. T., Macleod, C. M., & McCarty, M. (1944). Studies on the chemical nature of the substance inducing transformation of pneumococcal types : induction of transformation by a desoxyribonucleic acid fraction isolated from pneumococcus type iii. The Journal of experimental medicine, 79(2), 137–158. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.79.2.137
- Hershey & Chase
- Blog: http://bit.ly/marthachaseblenderexperiment
- YouTube: https://youtu.be/3iA9w878IC8
- Paper: Hershey, A. D., & Chase, M. (1952). Independent functions of viral protein and nucleic acid in growth of bacteriophage. The Journal of general physiology, 36(1), 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.36.1.39
- Cracking the genetic code – Nirenberg, Matthaei, Leder, and others
- Showing direct link between DNA sequence and protein sequence in hemoglobin – Pauling, Ingram, Hunt, and others
- Blog: http://bit.ly/paulingingram
- YouTube: https://youtu.be/PJx-7JN0BHk
- Some of many Papers:
- Pauling, l., & Itano, h. a. (1949). Sickle cell anemia a molecular disease. Science (New York, N.Y.), 110(2865), 543–548. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.110.2865.543
- Ingram V. M. (1956). A specific chemical difference between the globins of normal human and sickle-cell anaemia haemoglobin. Nature, 178(4537), 792–794. https://doi.org/10.1038/178792a0
- Ingram V. M. (1957). Gene mutations in human haemoglobin: the chemical difference between normal and sickle cell haemoglobin. Nature, 180(4581), 326–328. https://doi.org/10.1038/180326a
- Hunt, J. A., & Ingram, V. M. (1958). Abnormal human haemoglobins. II. The chymotryptic digestion of the trypsin-resistant core of haemoglobins A and S. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 28(3), 546–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3002(58)90517-1
- Figuring out the genetic code is non-overlapping – Brenner, Tsugita & Fraenkel-Conrat, Wittman, and others
- Blog: http://bit.ly/learngeneticcode
- Papers:
- Brenner S. (1957). On the impossibility of all overlapping triplet codes in information transfer from nucleic acid to proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 43(8), 687–694. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.43.8.687
- Tsugita, A., & Fraenkel-Conrat, H. (1960). THE AMINO ACID COMPOSITION AND C-TERMINAL SEQUENCE OF A CHEMICALLY EVOKED MUTANT OF TMV. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 46(5), 636–642. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.46.5.636
- Wittmann, H. G., & Wittmann-Liebold, B. (1966). Protein chemical studies of two RNA viruses and their mutants. Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology, 31, 163–172. https://doi.org/10.1101/sqb.1966.031.01.024
- Blog: http://bit.ly/nirenbergcodecracking
- YouTube: https://youtu.be/eqOh8_3xde8
- Some key Papers:
- The dependence of cell-free protein synthesis in E. coli upon naturally occurring or synthetic polyribonucleotides . Marshall W. Nirenberg, J. Heinrich Matthaei . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 1961, 47 (10) 1588-1602; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.47.10.1588 https://www.pnas.org/content/47/10/1588
- RNA codewords and protein synthesis, ii. Mucleotide sequence of a valine RNA codeword. Philip Leder, Marshall Nirenberg . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug 1964, 52 (2) 420-427; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.52.2.420 https://www.pnas.org/content/52/2/420
- RNA codewords and protein synthesis, VII. On the general nature of the RNA code. Nirenberg M, Leder P, Bernfield M, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1965;53(5):1161-1168. doi: 10.1073/pnas.53.5.1161 https://www.pnas.org/content/53/5/1161
- Sequential translation of trinucleotide codons for the initiation and termination of protein synthesis. Caskey CT, Tompkins R, Scolnick E, Caryk T, Nirenberg M. Science. 1968 Oct 4;162(3849):135-8. doi: 10.1126/science.162.3849.135. PMID: 4877370. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.162.3849.135
- Marshall Nirenberg – Nobel Lecture: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1968/nirenberg/lecture/
- The RNA code: Nature’s Rosetta Stone . C. Thomas Caskey, Philip Leder Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2014, 111 (16) 5758-5759; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1404819111 https://www.pnas.org/content/111/16/5758
more classic experiments: http://bit.ly/classicexperiments & https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUWsCDtjESrEq1EtSkyfY2wK1Lu8l7moI
