The broad, long-term objective of the proposed research is to address questions concerning the origin of function from biopolymers. The scope of this proposal will be two fold: 1) Develop a method of generating a large ex vivo population of naive (unselected) RNA-polypeptide fusions. 2) Use this population as a system to study the origins of biocatalysis, specifically to probe the abundance of a simple binding function among sequences of the major biopolymers, RNA, RNP (ribonucleoprotein complexes), and proteins. By examining the density of simple functions found in large random populations of RNA, protein, and ribonucleoprotein complexes it will be possible to estimate how likely a given function could arise and propose a path for the evolution of that function.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32GM020213-02
Application #
6179881
Study Section
Biological Sciences 2 (BIOL)
Program Officer
Tompkins, Laurie
Project Start
1999-07-01
Project End
Budget Start
2000-07-01
Budget End
2000-12-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2000
Total Cost
$19,616
Indirect Cost
Name
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Department
Type
DUNS #
076580745
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02142