The ribosome as a missing link in the evolution of life

Map Illustrating the Location of Transfer RNAs and Proteins in the Six Possible Reading Frames on the 23S, 16S and 5S Ribosomal RNAs of E. coli K12. Map suggests that rRNA once contained highly redundant and condensed genetic information encoding ribosome self-replication. “tRNA cut” means tRNAs can be excised from rRNAs; “tRNA transcribed” means tRNA production by transcribing the rRNA. 312