Some Basic Problems in the Relation of Nucleic Acid Turnover to Protein Synthesis

In recent years much attention has been focussed on nucleic acids as controlling factors in protein synthesis. This is owing to the existence of evidence from which may be deduced certain correlations between chemical findings on the one hand and observation of biological function on the other. Thus, for example, it is supposed that genes control ultimately all cellular functions, including protein synthesis (see, for example, Beadle and Tatum, 1941). From the close association of genes with nucleoproteins it is natural to assume that nucleic acids may be involved in protein synthesis. Such an assumption can be supported by the fact that nucleic acids are always found associated with self-duplicating units (e.g., genes, viruses, plastids, transforming principles of pneumococci and coli). It is tempting to hope that this association of nucleic acids with the capacity for protein synthesis is not entirely fortuitous.