The History of Terrorism
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1944?-1958 Methylated bases were discovered in DNA about 20 years ago and in RNA. in 1958. Until recently, however, no one had any idea how methyl groups got to be stuck onto the normally unmethylated bases in nucleic acids or what they were doing there.
1962 In 1962, with Erwin Fleissner, Borek showed that methyl groups in RNA that are essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes are introduced to RNA by methylating enzymes at the macro-molecular level.
1962 The first important break in this problem was reported by Dr. Fleissner and Dr. Borek in 1962 when they showed that the methyl groups became attached to...
1963 Unified theory of cancer development
1964 NYT - Scientists Offer Unified Theory On Formation of Cancer Cells
2021 PubMed - COVID-19: A methyl-group assault?
According to his concept, bulky methyl groups on certain bases along the nucleic acid chain might cause kinks and bends in genetically determined places on DNA and RNA molecules.
Carcinogenesis
Did it mean, for example, that nucleic acids were merely repositories for excess methyl groups drifting around in the cell? Or did the methyl groups serve a useful function of some sort?
Dr. Borek's team has now shown, moreover, that none of the methylatable bases in one "breed" of RNA bears a methyl group, whereas a certain proportion of those bases...
First, the main function of many chemicals that are known to cause cancer is to transfer atomic groups from one molecule to another - particularly the methyl group.
It is the bases with methyl groups attached to them which Dr. Borek and Dr. Srinivasan believe are the key to the process of carcinogeuesis. Following, essentially, is an account of how their idea developed.
They also found that methyl groups are attached to nucleic acids by the action of special protein molecules, called enzymes.
This atomic cluster is called a methyl group. It consists of three atoms of hydrogen attached to a carbon atom and is universally distributed throughout the living world.
This means that each species has its own set of enzymes that methylate the bases in its nucleic acids in a distinctive way, as though there were some purpose to the process of methylation. But what purpose could methyl groups serve?
Thus, Dr. Borek feels, methy-' lated bases might give the DNA and RNA 'of each species their own distinctive shapes and in this way could help maintain the Individuality of a species.
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