Page 102 - If Darwin Had Known about DNA

Harun Yahya

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of subsequent generations. The RNA molecule plays temporary roles
and serves in the short-term carrying of information. 80

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R RNA enters into reactions faster. .
In addition, since RNA has an extra hydroxyl (OH) group, it enters
into reactions more easily than DNA, but which also makes it less sta-
ble. This is why RNA is not as well suited as DNA for storing informa-
tion. Thanks to the way that the single-strip RNA molecule can adapt to
complex three-dimensional structures, it's able to engage in catalytic ac-
tivities that the strong and double-striped DNA helix cannot perform.
(A catalytic effect enables a substance to undergo no change, but to ef-
fect in a chemical reaction or the speed at which it does so.) Thanks to
their catalytic abilities, RNA molecules can alter chemical structures in a
most astonishing manner. For example, during the processes in the cell
nucleus, they turn a large copy of the DNA sequence into a "messenger
RNA" sequence much smaller than themselves. The ribosome then con-
verts messenger RNA into the protein's amino acid sequence. 81

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T The information in DNA can be reached more easily. .
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If the RNA molecule had a double-helix structure like that of DNA,
the structural folds in RNA would not occur, which would prevent its
being recognized by proteins. Also a double-helix structure would give,
RNA with a deep recess, making it harder for proteins to reach it and for
82
its coded information to be read. Proteins could not recognize a dou-
ble-helix RNA and its base sequences as easily as they do with DNA.
Therefore, DNA is better suited for containing genetic information be-
cause it is more stable and more easily reached. 83
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D DNA and RNA are the ideal molecules for their
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o own separate tasks. .
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RNA carries the genetic message it receives from the
DNA inside the nucleus to the cytoplasm (that part of the
cell that lies outside the nucleus), where the message
is translated. The essential differences between