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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Prof. Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, The Scripps Research Institute
A Search for Structural Alternatives of RNA
We have been interested in mapping the landscape of potentially primoridal informational oligomers that contain backbones, recognition elements and linker groups that are quite different from the canonical structures. The oligomer systems chosen for investigation are conceptually regarded as "potentially natural" and "informational". A general background of this approach and recent results from the studies on Orotic acid as a recognition element will be presented.
Such investigations, while hinting at the possibility of finding informational systems that could lay claim as functional ancestors of RNA, are also likely to generate results that give rise to opportunities in assessing the structural and functional uniqueness of RNA.
For more information contact Prof. Loren Williams (404-894-9752).