Sidney Altman

“The notion that the molecule that carries the genetic information, RNA, could also be a catalyst was a transformative idea.”

“At the time, we were all looking for proteins that could do the job of catalyzing the reactions that are necessary for life.”

“We did not know for a long time that there was an intermediary between DNA and protein, a messenger that is transient and that is used to translate the information.”

“However, the fact that we were able to demonstrate that RNA was a catalyst in a test tube was not sufficient.”

“We had to show that it had a physiological function.”