Major steps in the evolution of early organisms

早期生物进化的主要步骤

• 批准号: 261831-2007
• 负责人: Higgs, Paul
• 金额: $ 1.47万
• 依托单位: McMaster University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=426828
• 关键词: Major; steps; evolution; early; organisms

We have come to take for granted the idea that organisms possess genomes. A huge scientific effort has been put into the sequencing the genomes of human and many other species. The field of genomics is the study of organisms at the level of whole sets of interacting genes and proteins. A cell is envisaged as a complex system in which chemical reactions happen, molecules are broken down and resynthesized, cellular components move about actively and passively, and structures assemble and disassemble. As a result, a cell lives, grows and multiplies. In contrast, the genome is somehow special. It remains in charge of the proceedings without doing anything directly. It is the molecular elite, attended to by a variety of other molecules designed to keep it undamaged and to allow it to be accurately passed on to the next generation with nothing but a few minor mutations here or there. How did the genome rise to this supreme position?

我们已经开始认为生物体拥有基因组是理所当然的。人类和许多其他物种的基因组测序已经投入了巨大的科学努力。基因组学领域是在整套相互作用的基因和蛋白质的水平上研究生物体。细胞被设想为一个复杂的系统，其中发生化学反应，分子被分解和重新合成，细胞成分主动和被动地移动，结构组装和拆卸。结果，细胞存活、生长和繁殖。相反，基因组在某种程度上是特殊的。它仍然负责诉讼程序，但不直接采取任何行动。它是分子精英，由各种其他分子照顾，旨在保持它不受损害，并允许它准确地传递给下一代，只有一些微小的突变。基因组是如何上升到这个至高无上的地位的？