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Life from an RNA World: The Ancestor Within
A majority of evolutionary biologists believe that we now can envision our biological predecessors--not the first, but nearly the first, living beings on Earth. "Life from an RNA World" is about these vanished forebears, sketching them in the distant past just as their workings first began to resemble our own. The advances that have made such a pursuit possible are rarely discussed outside of bio-labs. So here, says author Michael Yarus, is an album for interested non-biologists, an introduction to our relatives in deep time, slouching between the first rudimentary life on Earth and the appearance of more complex beings.
The era between, and the focus of Yarus' work, is called the RNA world. It is RNA (ribonucleic acid) long believed to be a mere biologic copier and messenger, that offers us this glimpse into our ancient predecessors. To describe early RNA creatures, here called "ribocytes" or RNA cells, Yarus deploys some basics of molecular biology. He reviews our current understanding of the tree of life, examines the structure of RNA itself, explains the operation of the genetic code, and covers much else--all in an effort to reveal a departed biological world across billions of years between its heyday and ours.
Courting controversy among those who question the role of "ribocytes"--citing the chemical fragility of RNA and the uncertainty about the origin of an RNA synthetic apparatus--Yarus offers an invaluable vision of early life on Earth. And his book makes that early form of life, our ancestor within, accessible to all of us.
The era between, and the focus of Yarus' work, is called the RNA world. It is RNA (ribonucleic acid) long believed to be a mere biologic copier and messenger, that offers us this glimpse into our ancient predecessors. To describe early RNA creatures, here called "ribocytes" or RNA cells, Yarus deploys some basics of molecular biology. He reviews our current understanding of the tree of life, examines the structure of RNA itself, explains the operation of the genetic code, and covers much else--all in an effort to reveal a departed biological world across billions of years between its heyday and ours.
Courting controversy among those who question the role of "ribocytes"--citing the chemical fragility of RNA and the uncertainty about the origin of an RNA synthetic apparatus--Yarus offers an invaluable vision of early life on Earth. And his book makes that early form of life, our ancestor within, accessible to all of us.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 30, 2019
New stuff … between the following & the photo
Greetings to you, who look with good-spirited curiosity at this congenial anachronism. It is unclear how much longer people will write on dried and flattened wood. Trees do so much for humans and for our planet that it hardly seems fair to ask them to carry our thoughts as well.
first sentence of the Introduction
5/4/18
Michael Yarus, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Univ. of Colorado
the author’s style
Yarus sprinkles his narrative with literary quotations, as well as a few scientific ones. Primarily these are used as epigraphs for the twenty chapters of the book. For example, the introduction starts with a quote of Darwin, then follows with, "Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition" from Jack Kerouac. The first quote is by way of introducing the material; I think the second is a hint of his own writing preferences – though he doesn't dispense with grammatical inhibitions.
This style leads to an extremely readable and entertaining book. One gets the feeling that one is sitting in a class given by a friendly professor, whose main purpose is to entertain the student, thereby sparking their interest in the subject.
other features of the book
There are no footnotes to clutter the narrative. But, better, there are "readings" at the end of each chapter. Unlike a list of further reading which points toward a dark morass, Yarrus explains his short lists (from one to maybe five) like this.
Example: Chapter VII (Tornadoes in a Junkyard) deals with the creationist argument that the complexity of living things requires a creator, rather than "random" Darwinian evolutionary mutations. This chapter has the following suggestions, which I'm quoting basically to show the reasons that Yarus gives for the entries. Most chapters have Readings much more science-oriented, but I've chosen this one for the more sociological/political interest.
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution Michael Behe.
The quintessential modern inheritor of the Paley argument.
No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot be Purchased Without Intelligence. William Dembski.
A more strenuous read than Behe, because it ranges into mathematically phrased arguments; nevertheless essential for those who need or wish to grasp the authentic voice of intelligent design.
"Understanding the intelligent design creationist movement: Its true nature and goals." Barbara Forrest. https://www.centerforinquiry.net/uplo... (PDF document)
The legal, political, and social context (as of 2007) for the struggle with intelligent design, from an academic philosopher and veteran of the legal battle against its inclusion in school curricula.
"A reducibly complex mousetrap." John McDonald. http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mousetrap.html
John McDonald's ingenious 2002 demonstration that the spring-loaded household mousetrap is not irreducibly complex.
The book also has an index, and a "lexicon", otherwise known as a glossary, which contains among other things definitions of the following types of RNA:
Group I RNAs
Group II RNAs
miRNA (Micro RNA)
mRNA (Messenger RNA)
piRNA
RNAse P (RNA plus protein)
rRNA (Ribosomal RNA)
scnRNA ("scan RNAs", double stranded RNAs)
7S RNA
siRNA (Small interfering RNA)
snoRNA
snRNA
tmRNA (Transfer messenger RNA)
tRNA (Transfer RNA)
Xist RNA
the LUCA …
One of the concepts I had never thought about (or heard of) before reading the book was the LUCA . This acronym stands for Last Universal Common Ancestor. On a "Tree of Life", this is the "root" of the tree, defined as the most recent organism from which all organisms on earth descend. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_un...)
… and the RNA World
After introducing the LUCA (see above), Yarus spends the next several chapters building the argument that the topic of his book, "The RNA World", is the precursor, in the chain of life, before the LUCA. And this RNA world, what is it?
It is a world of life on earth in which neither DNA nor proteins had yet evolved. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_world)
In the world in which we live, all living creatures use DNA to replicate their cells. The DNA, usually in the cell nucleus, is wrapped tightly with thousands of different types of proteins into a dense bundle which can not only deactivate gene components of DNA, but also provide the catalysts required to make cell replication occur on a regular and frequent basis. (Bacteria are unicellular organisms which lack a cell nucleus, yet still have DNA and replicate by utilizing it.)
There is considerable evidence developed over the last couple decades that the RNA World is the best hypothesis so far offered for a world of living organisms, existing on earth perhaps as far back as ~4 billion years, in a time prior to DNA and the proteins – though there are still doubters, and still difficulties to the theory which remain to be overcome.
In this RNA world, we now have reason to believe, there were early types of RNA (some of which still exist) which could act as catalysts for copying information from other types of RNA, allowing cells to replicate with a decent probability of success.
wrap
This book introduced me not only to a considerable amount of information I'd never imagined before, but did it in a way that was both understandable and extremely enjoyable to read. There were a few bits, here and there, which I didn't understand as well as I would have liked, but that was as much my own failure to think it through as the difficulty of the author's presentation.
All in all, a book that I highly recommend for any reader interested in contemporary theory about the origin of life on earth, without having to take a difficult course on the topic.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: On Tyranny
Next review: The Works of Archimedes
Older review: Lives of the Monster Dogs
Previous library review: Tigers in Red Weather Ruth Padel
Next library review: Driving Mr. Albert
Greetings to you, who look with good-spirited curiosity at this congenial anachronism. It is unclear how much longer people will write on dried and flattened wood. Trees do so much for humans and for our planet that it hardly seems fair to ask them to carry our thoughts as well.
first sentence of the Introduction
5/4/18
Michael Yarus, Dept. of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Univ. of Colorado
the author’s style
Yarus sprinkles his narrative with literary quotations, as well as a few scientific ones. Primarily these are used as epigraphs for the twenty chapters of the book. For example, the introduction starts with a quote of Darwin, then follows with, "Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition" from Jack Kerouac. The first quote is by way of introducing the material; I think the second is a hint of his own writing preferences – though he doesn't dispense with grammatical inhibitions.
This style leads to an extremely readable and entertaining book. One gets the feeling that one is sitting in a class given by a friendly professor, whose main purpose is to entertain the student, thereby sparking their interest in the subject.
other features of the book
There are no footnotes to clutter the narrative. But, better, there are "readings" at the end of each chapter. Unlike a list of further reading which points toward a dark morass, Yarrus explains his short lists (from one to maybe five) like this.
Conspicuously looming reading suggests that you cannot know more without a lot of poring. In fact, the reverse is much more often true: you will know ten times more (and have ten new questions) if you read one extra, small, apt thing.
Example: Chapter VII (Tornadoes in a Junkyard) deals with the creationist argument that the complexity of living things requires a creator, rather than "random" Darwinian evolutionary mutations. This chapter has the following suggestions, which I'm quoting basically to show the reasons that Yarus gives for the entries. Most chapters have Readings much more science-oriented, but I've chosen this one for the more sociological/political interest.
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution Michael Behe.
The quintessential modern inheritor of the Paley argument.
No Free Lunch: Why Specified Complexity Cannot be Purchased Without Intelligence. William Dembski.
A more strenuous read than Behe, because it ranges into mathematically phrased arguments; nevertheless essential for those who need or wish to grasp the authentic voice of intelligent design.
"Understanding the intelligent design creationist movement: Its true nature and goals." Barbara Forrest. https://www.centerforinquiry.net/uplo... (PDF document)
The legal, political, and social context (as of 2007) for the struggle with intelligent design, from an academic philosopher and veteran of the legal battle against its inclusion in school curricula.
"A reducibly complex mousetrap." John McDonald. http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mousetrap.html
John McDonald's ingenious 2002 demonstration that the spring-loaded household mousetrap is not irreducibly complex.
The book also has an index, and a "lexicon", otherwise known as a glossary, which contains among other things definitions of the following types of RNA:
Group I RNAs
Group II RNAs
miRNA (Micro RNA)
mRNA (Messenger RNA)
piRNA
RNAse P (RNA plus protein)
rRNA (Ribosomal RNA)
scnRNA ("scan RNAs", double stranded RNAs)
7S RNA
siRNA (Small interfering RNA)
snoRNA
snRNA
tmRNA (Transfer messenger RNA)
tRNA (Transfer RNA)
Xist RNA
the LUCA …
One of the concepts I had never thought about (or heard of) before reading the book was the LUCA . This acronym stands for Last Universal Common Ancestor. On a "Tree of Life", this is the "root" of the tree, defined as the most recent organism from which all organisms on earth descend. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_un...)
… and the RNA World
After introducing the LUCA (see above), Yarus spends the next several chapters building the argument that the topic of his book, "The RNA World", is the precursor, in the chain of life, before the LUCA. And this RNA world, what is it?
It is a world of life on earth in which neither DNA nor proteins had yet evolved. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_world)
In the world in which we live, all living creatures use DNA to replicate their cells. The DNA, usually in the cell nucleus, is wrapped tightly with thousands of different types of proteins into a dense bundle which can not only deactivate gene components of DNA, but also provide the catalysts required to make cell replication occur on a regular and frequent basis. (Bacteria are unicellular organisms which lack a cell nucleus, yet still have DNA and replicate by utilizing it.)
There is considerable evidence developed over the last couple decades that the RNA World is the best hypothesis so far offered for a world of living organisms, existing on earth perhaps as far back as ~4 billion years, in a time prior to DNA and the proteins – though there are still doubters, and still difficulties to the theory which remain to be overcome.
In this RNA world, we now have reason to believe, there were early types of RNA (some of which still exist) which could act as catalysts for copying information from other types of RNA, allowing cells to replicate with a decent probability of success.
wrap
This book introduced me not only to a considerable amount of information I'd never imagined before, but did it in a way that was both understandable and extremely enjoyable to read. There were a few bits, here and there, which I didn't understand as well as I would have liked, but that was as much my own failure to think it through as the difficulty of the author's presentation.
All in all, a book that I highly recommend for any reader interested in contemporary theory about the origin of life on earth, without having to take a difficult course on the topic.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: On Tyranny
Next review: The Works of Archimedes
Older review: Lives of the Monster Dogs
Previous library review: Tigers in Red Weather Ruth Padel
Next library review: Driving Mr. Albert
October 4, 2019
Bilimsel anlamda bir bölüm mezunu olarak, bu kitabın alelade bir ders kitabından daha zor okunduğunu düşünüyorum. Çevirisi ve cümleler arasındaki geçişlerin anlamı zorluyor. Verilen bilgilerin güzel olduğunu düşünürsek, bilimsel alt yapısı olmayan kişilerin anlam ve bağlam konusunda mutlu etmeyeceğini düşünüyorum.
February 19, 2024
A fascinating subject but, let me say right up front, although he says at the beginning of the book that this is written for the non-scientist, it seems quite obvious that he assumes the reader has some knowledge of biochemistry and molecular biology. He uses, mostly, highly scientific jargon in his discussions that would be more appropriate in a scientific journal.
That being said, the book begins with a discussion of how life must have originated first into the simplest organisms from non-living material. However, there would be no evidence still around for these first organisms because there has been over 4 billion years for them to evolve. They couldn't have began with RNA, which is a complex fragile molecule, because it requires metabolism to create. The earliest form of life that there is still evidence for are stromatolites that date back 3.45 billion years ago but there had to be earlier organisms. The only possible evidence of the earliest life are carbon deposits that date back 3.85 billion years.
He then goes into the main subject of his book, RNA, and this is where his writing gets difficult. His explanations become very technical and complicated and I found myself often losing track of exactly what he was saying and finding myself going back and slowly trying to put it together. Some of it I understood but much of it I never fully grasped. The subject matter was fascinating but it would have been better for a non-scientist like myself to have been written in a more simplified manner.
That being said, the book begins with a discussion of how life must have originated first into the simplest organisms from non-living material. However, there would be no evidence still around for these first organisms because there has been over 4 billion years for them to evolve. They couldn't have began with RNA, which is a complex fragile molecule, because it requires metabolism to create. The earliest form of life that there is still evidence for are stromatolites that date back 3.45 billion years ago but there had to be earlier organisms. The only possible evidence of the earliest life are carbon deposits that date back 3.85 billion years.
He then goes into the main subject of his book, RNA, and this is where his writing gets difficult. His explanations become very technical and complicated and I found myself often losing track of exactly what he was saying and finding myself going back and slowly trying to put it together. Some of it I understood but much of it I never fully grasped. The subject matter was fascinating but it would have been better for a non-scientist like myself to have been written in a more simplified manner.
August 8, 2025
Eğer evrimsel biyolojiyle ilgilenmiyorsanız, kitabın dilini anlamak çok zor. İlgimi çekmedi.
September 6, 2021
Kitabı okumaya başladığımda çevirmenden kaynaklanan anlaşılmaz cümleler var diye düşündüm. Ancak anlatım birbiriyle alakasız cümleler, yada ve veyalarla uzatılan cümleler, birde üstüne parantez içinde sizi ne okuduğunuzu unutturan farklı cümlelerle kitap okunamaz hale geliyor.
İstemeyerek kitabı okumayı bıraktım. Kitap hakkındaki diğer yorumlarda benzer görüşler yazılmış.
Yayınevinin çok iyi kitapları olduğundan tercih etmiştim ama kötü bir deneyim oldu.
İstemeyerek kitabı okumayı bıraktım. Kitap hakkındaki diğer yorumlarda benzer görüşler yazılmış.
Yayınevinin çok iyi kitapları olduğundan tercih etmiştim ama kötü bir deneyim oldu.
October 1, 2022
The book is very difficult to follow, at least for a lay person. Having finished it, I still don’t understand what message the author was trying to convey, and I feel like I’ve learned very little. The book lacks a logical structure (or I failed to discern it) after the first few chapters. Finally, it contains many grammatical and spelling errors, making it seem as though little effort was expended proofreading the manuscript. I’m sorry for the very frank review.
May 23, 2020
“Dünyada çeşitliliğin çoğunluğu, mikropları mesken tutar. Yaşamın başlangıcındaki gibi bugün de dünya, mikropların dünyasıdır.”
January 9, 2011
Organic Chemistry background almost required for last few chapters.
December 28, 2015
Exciting story, hopelessly written. Better: life ascending by Nick lane.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews