Abstract
KNOWLEDGE of the mechanism of cellular protein synthesis has been advancing rapidly with the aid of the ultra-violet and electron microscopes. Nucleic acids show characteristic high absorption maxima at 260 mμ, due to the purine and pyrimidine constituents which distinguish them from other substances in biological material. By using the quartz microscope with monochromatic ultra-violet light, information has been obtained about the role of nucleic acid in cell division1 and the nucleoprotein nature of the chromosome and gene2,3. Indirect evidence for the latter has been obtained by ultraviolet irradiation of germinal tissue, when high efficiencies of mutation have been observed at 260 mμ4. Viruses also appear to be nucleo-proteins.
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DIXON, T. Autosynthetic Molecules. Nature 155, 596–598 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155596a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155596a0
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