Does RNA play an active role in RNA replication?

Answer 1

This is a very good question. Thankyou. To answer it fully would takes pages and pages. It is believed evolution started with an RNA which catalysed its own replication. Smaller pieces of symbiotic RNA would have joined in. In modern life, RNA amongst the Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes, doesn't generally replicate itself, instead the RNA is taken from the code stored in the DNA. Protein catalysts (RNA polymerase)are used to do this copying but are helped by RNA or more acurately snRNP's (small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles) which are partly RNA so it could be said it does play an active role. This is actually a multistage process. In protein synthesis, the mRNA is copied from the DNA then in Eukaryotes it is cut and spliced (part of the multistage process helped by snRNPs) in the nucleus before passing to the cytoplasm (rest of the cell) where rRNA (ribosomal RNA) together with a number of catalytic proteins (enzymes), builds the new protein. tRNA is also involved in the process. This carries a single amino acid to the rRNA. All of these RNAs are part of the DNA code.