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Biology A primer on RNA, perhaps the most consequential molecule of all “The Catalyst” looks at RNA’s role in life’s origins as well as its medical uses The Catalyst. Thomas Cech. W.W. Norton; 304 pages; $28.99 and £23.99 What you see depends on how you look. For years students of cell biology were taught that a molecule called RNA was but a humble minion assisting its glamorous cousins, DNA and proteins. DNA acted as the library of all knowledge about how to build an organism and proteins the means by which that organism was built. RNA, by contrast, was seen as a messenger boy, carrying copies of DNA’s blueprints to the cellular workshops where proteins were forged; a porter, toting the amino-acid links of protein chains to those workshops for assembly; and a part of the fabric of the workshops themselves. But, like someone staring at a Necker cube, biologists now realise that this picture can be viewed another way—one that puts RNA centre stage. Their shift of perception
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