5.5 RNA world

. RNA world A typical cell contains about ten times as much RNA as DNA. The high RNA content is mainly due to the variety of roles played by RNA in the cell. Fraenkel-Conrat and Singer ( ) first demonstrated that RNA is the genetic material in RNA containing viruses like TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) and they XII Std Zoology Chapter XII Std Zoology Chapter Molecular Genetics RNA genome with shorter life span can mutate and evolve faster. The above discussion indicates that both RNA and DNA can function as a genetic material. DNA is more stable, and is preferred for storage of genetic information.