Spiegelman Monster

Spiegelman Monster is the name given to an RNA chain of only 218 nucleotides that is able to be reproduced by an RNA replication enzyme. It is named after its creator, Sol Spiegelman, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Description

Spiegelman introduced RNA from a simple virus (Qβ) into a solution which contained the RNA replication enzyme RNA replicase from the Qβ virus Q-Beta Replicase, some free nucleotides and some salts. In this environment, the RNA started to replicate. After a while, Spiegelman took some RNA and moved it to another tube with fresh solution. This process was repeatedcite journal
title=A Replicating RNA Molecule Suitable for a Detailed Analysis of Extracellular Evolution and Replication
journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
first=Sol
last=Spiegelman
coauthors=D. L. Kacian, D. R. Mills, F. R. Kramer
year=1972
month=October
pmid=4507621
url=http://www.pnas.org/content/69/10/3038.abstract] .

Shorter RNA chains were able to replicate faster, so the RNA became shorter and shorter. After 74 generations, the original strand with 4,500 nucleotide bases ended up as a dwarf genome with only 218 bases. Such a short RNA had been able to replicate very quickly in these unnatural circumstances.

In 1997, Eigen and Oehlenschlager showed that the Spiegelman monster eventually becomes even shorter, containing only 48 or 54 nucleotides, which are simply the binding sites for the reproducing enzyme RNA replicasecite journal
title=30 Years Later – a New Approach to Sol Spiegelman's and Leslie Orgel's in vitro EVOLUTIONARY STUDIES Dedicated to Leslie Orgel on the occasion of his 70th birthday
journal=Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
last=Oehlenschläger
first=Frank
coauthors=Manfred Eigen
year=1997
month=Dec
doi=10.1023/A:1006501326129
volume=27
pages=437] .

M. Sumpter and R. Luce of Eigen's laboratory demonstrated that a mixture containing no RNA at all but only RNA bases and Q-Beta Replicase can, under the right conditions, spontaneously generate self-replicating RNA which evolves into a form similar to Spiegelman's Monster. [cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |authorlink=Richard Dawkins |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=The Ancestor's Tale |origdate= |origyear=2004 |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |volume= |date= |year= |month= |publisher=Wiedenfield & Nicolson|location=London |language= |isbn=9780753819968 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=pages 590 - 593 |chapter=Canterbury |chapterurl= |quote= ]

See also

*RNA world hypothesis
* [http://www.asa3.org/archive/asa/200001/0229.html ASA - January 2000: almost life]
* [http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/mystery.htm#life Not-so-Final Answers - The origin of life]
* [http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/subcellular.html Subcellular Life Forms]

References