Old War, New Avatar

Its' a battle older than recorded history itself. Carl Jung recognized the universal
archetypes that slumber in the collective unconsciousness of humanity, that recognize
what lies beneath the consciously recorded narrative and precedes it. Across cultures
and periods we have the warring siblings, in scriptural and popular literature and
mythology. Cain and Abel,The Pandavas and the Kauravas ,and the ever popular in print
and film across generations, the twins destined to fratricidal rivalry in Dumas' "The Man
in the Iron Mask" .Thus it always was, thus it always has been and again once more we
witness the war of the Fratricidal twins in its current avatar.

RNA & DNA,both cousins united and separated by their common bonds, and their
conjoined destinies revolving around the same old issues, including primogeniture and
inheritance.RNA undoubtedly the elder, but denied its apparently rightful inheritance,
by DNA's usurping of its position and relegation of it to servitude, by virtue of duplicity
as embodied in its double strand, as opposed to the single one of RNA.In almost
Shakespeare's' envious Cascas' terms , could speak of its subjugators' physical
deficiencies as compared to its own.RNA withstands much that DNA cannot ,such as UV
rays, and might be justified in viewing the much vaunted double strand not as a mark of
superiority but as a crutch.

In general terms DNA is the custodian of the recipe for making organisms out of
ingredients. DNA replicates and stores genetic information. It is a blueprint for all
genetic information contained within an organism. RNA converts the genetic
information contained within DNA to a format used to build proteins, and then moves it
to ribosomal protein factories. One is "management", the other is the "foreman" putting
the "Plan" into action. What if the "foreman" was there long before management
showed up and took over the "business of making life". What if management was first
just a lowly clerk asked to keep a record of what the foreman was doing? Accounts,
inventory, blue prints etc?.What if the lowly clerk ,custodian of all the information and
possession of all the records, began to realize that knowledge is power, and control of
information is control of everything, and like many dictators and tyrants to come,
elbowed out the "doer" and became the " ruler"
 RNA World
Many scientists think that RNA was a key molecule back when life began 3.8
billion or so years ago. A big reason they think this is that RNA can store
information like DNA and can perform some of the functions that proteins can. In
this theory, DNA and proteins came later. So without RNA, there might have
been no life on Earth.

It would be unnatural for such resentment to go unexpressed and unactioned, and the periodic
flare up of contagion over millennia, across and within species, is nothing but the effects of this
internecine ,unending conflict between these cousins over the right to govern.

As subjects of dictatorships learn very quickly, the most effective way to rebel is by subversive
activities and guerrilla warfare.RNA has been waging this guerrilla warfare over millennia and
as all rulers do,DNA has been waging a counterinsurgency battle to maintain its supremacy.
Viruses are the soldiers of these battles and the battle fields are the organisms that the
warring cousins have built together and which each wants to govern. As in all intense battles
the conflict rages form the basic societal structures, which in the case of living organisms is the
cell and spreads to all theaters of conflict, including across species. All tactics are
used,camouflage,deception,subversion,full frontal assault and the equivalent of
thermonuclear warfare.

RNA Comes Out of the Shadow of Its

Famous Cousin
By Nicholas Wade
 June 21, 2005
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DNA usually grabs the headlines for its starring role as the archive of genetic information.

But many of the really difficult operations that a cell performs are carried out by RNA, DNA's close
chemical cousin.

So deeply has RNA been overshadowed that two of its major roles in the cell have come to light only in
the last few years. One, a way of fine-tuning the activity of genes, has been the subject of a flurry of
recent reports documenting RNA's part in central operations like stem cells, cell differentiation,
insulin production and cancer.

In 1998 another role of RNA came to light. Known as RNA interference, or RNAi, it is a system for
silencing genes by tricking the cell into destroying the gene's messenger RNA before it can generate its
protein product.

The system was found to be set off by long pieces of double-stranded RNA. Cells have genes that
produce such double-stranded RNA as a way of controlling other genes. Viruses also produce this
unusual kind of RNA, so the system also serves as a defense against them and other disruptive
elements.

By Lexogen|July 6th, 2016|Others

The mutation rates of DNA viruses approximate those of eukaryotic cells, yielding in theory one mutant virus in
several hundred to many thousand genome copies. RNA viruses have much higher mutation rates, perhaps one
mutation per virus genome copy.

RNA Viruses
Human diseases causing RNA viruses include Orthomyxoviruses, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Ebola disease,
SARS, influenza, polio measles and retrovirus including adult Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-
1) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). RNA viruses have RNA as genetic material, that may be a single-
stranded RNA or a double stranded RNA. Viruses may exploit the presence of RNA-dependent RNA
polymerases for replication of their genomes or, in retroviruses, with two copies of single strand RNA genomes,
reverse transcriptase produces viral DNA which can be integrated into the host DNA under its integrase
function. Studies showed that endogenous retroviruses are long-terminal repeat (LTR)-type retroelements that
account for approximately 10% of human or murine genomic DNA.

What are the possible outcomes of this internecine warfare? :

a) One of the warring cousins established final supremacy and subjugation of the others irrevocably. Unlikely
given their interdependency and vulnerabilities.
b) They make peace once and for all on mutually negotiated terms. Again unlikely, see above
c) The organisms they have built, once established as independent functioning entities, finds a way to function
without either of them and gets rid of both like kids divorcing parents. Unlikely? see developments in alternate
molecules that could have done the roles of DNA & RNA.The future is not only stranger than we imagine, it is
stranger than we can imagine. Odds are, no caveman or Neanderthal foresaw the pizza or a bacon cheese burger
with all the trimmings, although their recognition of the benefits of learning to make and control fire eventually
led us there. As Einstein said, "Imagination is everything"

Foot Notes :

A vs. RNA – A Comparison Chart

Comparison DNA RNA

Full Name Deoxyribonucleic Acid  Ribonucleic Acid

Function DNA replicates and stores genetic information.
It is a blueprint for all genetic information
contained within an organism
Structure DNA consists of two strands, arranged in a
double helix. These strands are made up of
subunits called nucleotides. Each nucleotide
contains a phosphate, a 5-carbon sugar
molecule and a nitrogenous base.
Length  DNA is a much longer polymer than RNA. A
chromosome, for example, is a single, long
DNA molecule, which would be several
centimetres in length when unravelled.
Sugar The sugar in DNA is deoxyribose, which
contains one less hydroxyl group than RNA’s
ribose.  deoxyribose.
Bases The bases in DNA are Adenine (‘A’), Thymine
(‘T’), Guanine (‘G’) and Cytosine (‘C’).
Base Pairs Adenine and Thymine pair (A-T)
Cytosine and Guanine pair (C-G)   Cytosine and Guanine pair (C-G)
Location DNA is found in the nucleus, with a small
amount of DNA also present in mitochondria.
Reactivity Due to its deoxyribose sugar, which contains
one less oxygen-containing hydroxyl group,
RNA converts the genetic information
contained within DNA to a format used
to build proteins, and then moves it to
ribosomal protein factories. 
RNA only has one strand, but like DNA,
is made up of nucleotides. RNA strands
are shorter than DNA strands. RNA
sometimes forms a secondary double
helix structure, but only intermittently. 
RNA molecules are variable in length,
but much shorter than long DNA
polymers. A large RNA molecule might
only be a few thousand base pairs long. 
RNA contains ribose sugar molecules,
without the hydroxyl modifications of
RNA shares Adenine (‘A’), Guanine
(‘G’) and Cytosine (‘C’) with DNA, but
contains Uracil (‘U’) rather than
Thymine.
Adenine and Uracil pair (A-U)
        
RNA forms in the nucleolus, and then
moves to specialised regions of the
cytoplasm depending on the type of RNA
formed. 
RNA, containing a ribose sugar, is more
reactive than DNA and is not stable in
 DNA is a more stable molecule than RNA, alkaline conditions. RNA’s larger helical
which is useful for a molecule which has the grooves mean it is more easily subject to
task of keeping genetic information safe. attack by enzymes.

Ultraviolet DNA is vulnerable to damage by ultraviolet RNA is more resistant to damage from
(UV) light.  UV light than DNA.
Sensitivity

RNA and DNA

Though DNA and RNA have some similarities, RNA is a less stable version of its
more famous cousin, DNA. But its relative instability doesn’t make it less
important. It is critical for the proper functioning of a cell and thus of the whole
living organism. And it turns out that it may have been the key molecule when life
started out on Earth 3.8 billion or so years ago.

How Are DNA and RNA Different?

While there are a number of differences between DNA and RNA, it’s first worth
noting that they are in some ways very similar. For example, they both consist of
nucleotides (a five-carbon sugar and a nitrogenous base) connected together in
a long row through phosphate groups. What makes DNA and RNA different at
the molecular level is their nucleotides. While the nucleotides in RNA have the
five-carbon sugar ribose, the nucleotides in DNA have the  five-carbon sugar
deoxyribose.
Another key difference is the base portion of the nucleotide. While both DNA and
RNA have three bases in common, adenine (A), guanine (G), and cytosine (C),
they have a different fourth base. In DNA, the fourth base is thymine (T), while in
RNA it is uracil (U). These small differences make RNA less stable than DNA.  
RNA is unstable under alkaline conditions, and the O-H bond in the ribose makes
it more reactive than the relatively stable DNA. Because of its stability, DNA is
used to store biological information in a cell. It is important that these instructions
not be changed or mutated, and changes are less likely with DNA compared to
RNA.
One other big difference between DNA and RNA is that DNA usually comes as
two long strands intertwined to form the famous double-stranded DNA helix. The
key to this double helix structure being able to form is that the bases pair up in a
defined way. In DNA, A always pairs with T and G with C.
RNA is usually a single strand of nucleotides connected together. Even though it
is single-stranded, its bases do still pair up—A with U and G with C. This pairing
is sometimes important within the RNA strand for a number of reasons. It
enables the molecule to form three dimensional shapes and facilitates the pairing
of RNA with DNA in the process of transcription—as well as the pairing between
RNAs in the process of translation.

What Is the Function of RNA?

RNA plays various critical roles in the cell. One of the most important functions of
RNA is turning the information in DNA into proteins which can then carry out the
work coded in the cell’s genetic instructions. It is also important in regulating
when, where, and to what extent a gene should be read in a cell.

Transcription
To follow the instructions in DNA, a cell must first copy a gene into a form of RNA
called messenger RNA (mRNA). This process, which produces RNA from DNA is
called transcription. During transcription, a number of different proteins in a cell
work together to read the gene, but the key protein is RNA polymerase.
In the first step, initiation, the RNA polymerase lands on the DNA near a gene. In
the next step, elongation, the RNA polymerase starts copying the DNA into RNA
using base pairing. For example, if there is a T in the DNA strand, the
polymerase will add an A to the RNA strand. This continues across the entire
length of the gene (often many thousands of bases). Eventually the polymerase
stops making RNA and leaves the DNA. This last process is called termination.
In eukaryotes, the RNA is then processed before moving onto the next step. In a
process called splicing, a large protein complex called the spliceosome removes
pieces of RNA called introns throughout the RNA. Other proteins add a protective
cap at the beginning of the RNA and a long string of adenine nucleotides called a
polyadenylated tail at the other end. These help to prevent the RNA from being
degraded by enzymes in the cell and also facilitate its transportation to the
cytoplasm.
This processed RNA, now called messenger RNA, is now ready to be translated
into a protein.

Translation
In many cases the information contained within DNA needs to be translated into
a protein in order for the instructions to be carried out. This process of translation
uses three different kinds of RNA: messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA
(rRNA), and transfer RNA (tRNA).
After the mRNA is synthesized and processed, the newly formed mRNA copy of
the gene leaves the nucleus and binds to a structure in the cytoplasm called a
ribosome, to begin the process of translation. The ribosome is made up of many
different proteins and rRNAs. During translation, the ribosome “reads” three
nucleotides of the mRNA sequence at a time. Each of these three-nucleotide
sequences, known as codons, base pairs with  an anticodon, a complementary
three-nucleotide sequence found on tRNA molecules.
Different anticodons are found on the end of each tRNA molecule. And on the
other end, tRNA molecules are attached to a specific amino acid. Thus the
complementary base pairing between mRNA and tRNA allows the sequence of
nucleotides in mRNA to be converted, or translated, into a sequence of amino
acids.
For example, if there is a UUU codon in the mRNA molecule, a tRNA molecule
with the  anticodon AAA base pairs with it. This tRNA molecule brings a specific
amino acid to the ribosome phenylalanine. This process of codon and anticodon
pairing continues, and the amino acids are linked together, one after the other, to
make the protein. The protein can then go and do its job.

Other Functions of RNA

In addition to the three types of RNA described above, many additional RNAs
exist that play other important roles. For example, microRNA (miRNA) is a small
type of RNA that can bind to mRNA and affects its ability to be translated.
MicroRNAs are important for ensuring that genes are only expressed at the
proper time and in the correct cell type.  
Another type of RNA called small nuclear RNA (snRNA) assists during the
process of splicing. Other important RNAs include long non-coding RNAs
(lncRNAs) which like miRNAs look to play an important role in gene expression
and ribozymes (RNA molecules that behave just like proteins).

RNA World
Many scientists think that RNA was a key molecule back when life began 3.8
billion or so years ago. A big reason they think this is that RNA can store
information like DNA and can perform some of the functions that proteins can. In
this theory, DNA and proteins came later. So without RNA, there might have
been no life on Earth.
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