Spiegelman Monster

Spiegelman Monster is the moniker given to an RNA chain of only 218 nucleotides that is able to be reproduced by an RNA replication enzyme. It is named after its creator, Sol Spiegelman, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Spiegelman introduced RNA from a simple virus (Qβ) into a solution which contained the RNA replication enzyme RNA replicase from the Qβ virus Q-Beta Replicase, some free nucleotides and some salts. In this environment, the RNA started to replicate. After a while, Spiegelman took some RNA and moved it to another tube with fresh solution. This process was repeated^[1].

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Shorter RNA chains were able to replicate faster, so the RNA became shorter and shorter. After 74 generations, the original strand with 4,500 nucleotide bases ended up as a dwarf genome with only 218 bases. Such a short RNA had been able to replicate very quickly in these unnatural circumstances.

In 1997, Eigen and Oehlenschlager showed that the Spiegelman monster eventually becomes even shorter, containing only 48 or 54 nucleotides, which are simply the binding sites for the reproducing enzyme RNA replicase^[2].

See also

• RNA world hypothesis
• ASA - January 2000: almost life
• Not-so-Final Answers - The origin of life
• Subcellular Life Forms

References

1. ^ Spiegelman, Sol; D. L. Kacian, D. R. Mills, F. R. Kramer (October 1972). "A Replicating RNA Molecule Suitable for a Detailed Analysis of Extracellular Evolution and Replication". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. PMID 4507621.
2. ^ Oehlenschläger, Frank; Manfred Eigen (Dec 1997). "30 Years Later – a New Approach to Sol Spiegelman's and Leslie Orgel's in vitro EVOLUTIONARY STUDIES Dedicated to Leslie Orgel on the occasion of his 70th birthday". Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres. doi:10.1023/A:1006501326129.