title: Rhyme or reason: RNA-arginine interactions and the genetic code.
abstract: Theories about the origin of the genetic code require specific recognition between nucleic acids and amino acids at some stage of the code's evolution. A statistical analysis of arginine-binding RNA aptamers now offers the opportunity to test such interactions and provides the strongest support for an intrinsic affinity between any amino acid and its codons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, NJ 08544-1003, USA.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Landweber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D005815:Genetic Code; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D012313:RNA; D001120:Arginine