Likelihood of Life’s Protein Machines: Extravagant in Construction Yet Efficient in Function

Abstract

A protein with its specified sequence, where each position is filled by but 1 of 20 different amino acid residues, represents an extremely improbable construct. Perhaps in part because of this improbability, searches for understanding have reasonably considered far-from-equilibrium conditions and addressed circumstances whereby order may appear out of chaos. On the other hand, biochemists with painstaking commitment have worked their way down to the component processes of DNA replication, of transcription of DNA into RNA, and of translation of RNA into protein sequence. They dissected each constituent process into its scores of energy-requiring reactions, assembled these reactions to provide a compelling description of each component, and emerged with a stunning tale of heredity and protein biosynthesis. Biology’s story of protein biosynthesis is one of such elegant detail that, no matter how brilliant the mind, it could not have been derived otherwise.