Abstract
In biology proteins are uniquely important. They are not to be classed with polysaccharides, for example, which by comparison play a very minor role. Their nearest rivals are the nucleic acids....The main function of proteins is to act as enzymes.
...In the protein molecule Nature has devised a unique instrument in which an underlying simplicity is used to express great subtlety and versatility; it is impossible to see molecular biology in proper perspective until this peculiar combination of virtues has been clearly grasped.
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Burian, R.M. Technique, task definition, and the transition from genetics to molecular genetics: Aspects of the work on protein synthesis in the laboratories of J. Monod and P. Zamecnik. J Hist Biol 26, 387–407 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01062055
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01062055