Studies on the Relationship of mRNA to Heterogeneous Nuclear RNA in Mammalian Cells

Abstract

The present understanding of the control mechanisms which govern bacterial protein synthesis was made available both by genetic and biochemical experiments. Among the most important genetic contributions was the isolation and characterization of mutants of the control elements themselves. A major part of the relevant biochemistry has involved detailed studies of the mechanics of protein synthesis and a study of the production of the molecular intermediate between DNA and protein-messenger RNA (mRNA) (see Cold Spring Harbor Symposia for 1953, 1956, 1961, and 1969). Because the genetics of mammalian cells is in such a primitive state, even with respect to structural genes, and essentially non-existent for any presumed control genes, experimentation with mammalian cells, the end goal of which is to understand gene regulation, has been limited largely to biochemical work. A study of RNA metabolism in mammalian cells has been one such active research area (for review see Darnell, 1968).