email: filfilflavor (at} proton (dot} me
Please feel free to contact me! (I sincerely mean it.) Especially if you have a potential opportunity for me.
"On protein synthesis"
Francis H. C. Crick
The Biological Replication of Macromolecules, Symposia of the Society for Experimental Biology, 12 (1958), 138-63. Reprinted paper, unmarked.
26 pages / 15 page PDF
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/z3d5fnyg
interesting quotes:
"I shall also argue that the main function of the genetic material is to control (not necessarily directly) the synthesis of proteins. There is little direct evidence to support this, but to my mind the psychological drive behind this hypothesis is at the moment independent of such evidence." (138)
"It is widely believed (though not by everyone) that the nucleic acids are in some way responsible for the control of protein synthesis, either directly or indirectly. The actual evidence for this is rather meagre." (144)
"My own thinking (and that of many of my colleagues) is based on two general principles, which I call the Sequence Hypothesis and the Central Dogma. The direct evidence for both of them is negligible, but I have found them to be of great help in getting to grips with these very complex problems." (152)
"This aspect of protein synthesis appeals mainly to those with a background in the more sophisticated sciences. Most biochemists, in spite of being rather fascinated by the problem, dislike arguments of this kind. It seems to them unfair to construct theories without adequate experimental facts. Cosmologists, on the other hand, appear to lack such inhibitions." (158)
"This gap between theory and experiment is a great stimulus to the imagination." (161)
I. INTRODUCTION (138-139)
The importance of proteins
II. THE PROBLEM (139-144)
Elementary facts about proteins
The nature of protein synthesis
The essence of the problem
III. RECENT EXPERIMENTAL WORK (144-152)
The role of the nucleic acids
The site of protein synthesis
Microsomal particles and protein synthesis
Activating enzymes
In vitro incorporation
RNA turnover and protein synthesis
Summary of experimental work
IV. IDEAS ABOUT PROTEIN SYNTHESIS (152-160)
General principles
The Sequence Hypothesis
The Central Dogma
Some ideas on cytoplasmic protein synthesis
The adaptor hypothesis
The soluble RNA
Subsequent steps
Two types of RNA
The coding problem
V. CONCLUSIONS (160-161)
REFERENCES (161-163)