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Science 12 May 1989:
Vol. 244. no. 4905, pp. 673 - 679
DOI: 10.1126/science.2497522
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Articles

Science, Vol 244, Issue 4905, 673-679
Copyright © 1989 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

How old is the genetic code? Statistical geometry of tRNA provides an answer

M Eigen, BF Lindemann, M Tietze, R Winkler-Oswatitsch, A Dress, and A von Haeseler

Max-Planck-Institut fur biophysikalische Chemie, Gottingen, Federal Republic of Germany.

The age of the molecular organization of life as expressed in the genetic code can be estimated from experimental data. Comparative sequence analysis of transfer RNA by the method of statistical geometry in sequence space suggests that about one-third of the present transfer RNA sequence divergence was present at the urkingdom level about the time when archaebacteria separated from eubacteria. It is concluded that the genetic code is not older than, but almost as old as our planet. While this result may not be unexpected, it was not clear until now that interpretable data exist that permit inferences about such early stages of life as the establishment of the genetic code.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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