Question

Whose discovery in mid-1980 overturned the idea that only proteins could be biological catalysts?

• A. Monoclonal antibodies
• B. DNA probes
• C. Ribozymes
• D. RFLP

Answer 1

The correct option is C Ribozymes

Scientic theories about the origin-of-life theories have historically been characterized by the chicken-and-egg problem of which essential aspect of life was the rst to appear, replication or self-sustenance. RNA, the other nucleic acid, contained building blocks very similar to DNA, so biologists recognized early that RNA could store information in its linear sequences. With the discovery in the 1980s that RNA molecules were capable of biological catalysis, a function till now ascribed to proteins alone, RNA took on the role of the single entity that could act as both chicken and egg. Within a few years of the discovery of these catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) scientists had formulated an RNA hypothesis that posited an early phase in the evolution of life where all key functions were performed by RNA molecules.

Therefore, the correct answer is option C.