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Micromolecular Evolution—The Origin of the Genetic Code

  • Chapter
The Genetic Mechanism and the Origin of Life

Abstract

Aside from the conclusions just reached, the foregoing review of the genetic mechanism makes it evident that the system is totally dependent on a coding device, a code built on triplets of nucleotides. Thus an understanding of the origins of the entire apparatus appears to be contingent on a knowledge of the beginnings of the code catalog itself. Because of the importance of the problem, numerous attempts at solving it have been made along a diversity of avenues, which fall into four major categories: conceptual, mathematical, biochemical, and biological. Since assumptions made by studies in the first three of these groupings are often in conflict with the findings just summarized, the present status of the problem as outlined below may be viewed more objectively if those conclusions are held in abeyance momentarily.

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    Lawrence S. Dillon

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Dillon, L.S. (1978). Micromolecular Evolution—The Origin of the Genetic Code. In: The Genetic Mechanism and the Origin of Life. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2436-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2436-2_6

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