CALABANO, Mark Jasper C.

BIOCHEMISTRY LECTURE

II- BS Medical Technology

NARRATIVE SUMMARY OF ONE-GENE-ONE-ENZYME HYPOTHESIS BASED FROM THE

VIDEO

The proposed idea of Beadle and Tatum in 1941 which is one gene, one
enzyme hypothesis suggests that each gene encodes a single enzyme, which later
affects an individual step in a metabolic pathway. They believed that genes act through
the production of enzymes, with each gene responsible for producing a single enzyme
that in turn affects a single step in a metabolic pathway. Thus, a mutation can alter a
gene so it no longer produces the normal enzyme, resulting in to having a physical
symptom, like the need for nutritional supplements. In a more specific manner, these
scientists believed that genes were responsible for more than just passing inherited
traits from one generation to the next. Thus, they concluded that gene specify the
structure of enzymes, and one gene codes for the structure of one enzyme. Hence,
these scientists inferred that the function of a gene is to direct the formation of a
particular enzyme, which regulates a chemical event. And so in general, Beadle and
Tatum proposed that each gene directs the formation of one and only one enzyme.
However, this idea was soon found to be oversimplified, thus having drawbacks due to
the following reasons. It has been supported today that many genes encode non-
enzymes proteins like signaling protein such as insulin, structural protein such as
keratin, transport protein such as hemoglobin, and defense protein such our antibodies.
Enzymes as we all know, are just one category of protein and there are many non-
enzyme proteins in cells, and these proteins are also encoded by genes. The next
reason is that, many proteins are actually composed of more than one polypeptide
wherein each of the polypeptide is encoded by a separate gene. Thus each protein is
composed of at least two polypeptides or three or four polypeptides coded by a
separate gene. Another reason states that some genes do not encode polypeptides but
actually encode functional RNA molecules like rRNA, tRNA, and regulating RNAs rather
than polypeptides. And lastly, many multi-exonic genes produce transcripts that are
alternatively spliced, wherein multiple proteins can be encoded by the same gene,
having the relationship one is to many rather than one is to one with regards to the
hypothesis. With these drawbacks, I can infer that not all proteins are enzymes. There
are plenty of genes that encode plain 'ole proteins wherein it may not have an
enzymatic activity but still are important for cellular functions. Also, in spite of the fact
that one gene-one enzyme concept is proven to be inaccurate, its core idea still serves
as a helpful stepping stone for our geneticists today in exploring the wonders of science
in any various forms of life.

Related source: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/gene-expression-central-

dogma/central-dogma-transcription/a/one-gene-one-enzyme-hypothesis