Applications of Ribozymes in Synthetic Systems - Danielle Jordan

What are ribozymes?

Ribozymes, also known as RNA enzymes or catalytic RNA, are RNA molecules that cataylze chemical reactions. They are able to catalzye hydrolysis of their own phosphodiester bonds or other RNA bonds. Some, such as RNA polymerase ribozymes, are able to catalyze their own synthesis.

History

In 1967, Carl Woese, Francis Crick and Leslie Orgel hypothesized that RNA molecules could be used as catalysts based on their complex secondary structures. It was not until 1982 when Dr. Cech first showed that RNA molecules could be used as catalysts of chemical reactions. Since then, these ribozymes have proven to be an important area of research in gene technology.