The central dogma of molecular biology is an explanation of the flow of genetic information within a biological system. It is often stated as "DNA makes RNA, and RNA makes protein", although this is not its original meaning. It was first stated by Francis Crick in 1957, then published in 1958:
He re-stated it in a Nature paper published in 1970: "The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed residue-by-residue transfer of sequential information. It states that such information cannot be transferred back from protein to either protein or nucleic acid."
A second version of the central dogma is popular but incorrect. This is the simplistic DNA → RNA → protein pathway published by James Watson in the first edition of The Molecular Biology of the Gene (1965). Watson's version differs from Crick's because Watson describes a two-step (DNA → RNA and RNA → protein) process as the central dogma. While the dogma as originally stated by Crick remains valid today, Watson's version does not.
The dogma is a framework for understanding the transfer of sequence information between information-carrying biopolymers, in the most common or general case, in living organisms. There are 3 major classes of such biopolymers: DNA and RNA (both nucleic acids), and protein. There are conceivable direct transfers of information that can occur between these. The dogma classes these into 3 groups of 3: three general transfers (believed to occur normally in most cells), two special transfers (known to occur, but only under specific conditions in case of some viruses or in a laboratory), and four unknown transfers (believed never to occur). The general transfers describe the normal flow of biological information: DNA can be copied to DNA (DNA replication), DNA information can be copied into mRNA (transcription), and proteins can be synthesized using the information in mRNA as a template (translation). The special transfers describe: RNA being copied from RNA (RNA replication), DNA being synthesised using an RNA template (reverse transcription). The unknown transfers describe: proteins being synthesised directly from a DNA template without the use of mRNA, a protein being copied from a protein, synthesis of RNA using the primary structure of a protein as a template, DNA synthesis using the primary structure of a protein as a template - these are not thought to naturally occur.
Biological sequence information
The biopolymers that comprise DNA, RNA and (poly)peptides are linear polymers (i.e.: each monomer is connected to at most two other monomers). The sequence of their monomers effectively encodes information. The transfers of information described by the central dogma ideally are faithful, deterministic transfers, wherein one biopolymer's sequence is used as a template for the construction of another biopolymer with a sequence that is entirely dependent on the original biopolymer's sequence. When DNA is transcribed to RNA, its complement is paired to it. DNA codes A, G, T, and C are transferred to RNA codes U, C, A, and G, respectively. The encoding of proteins is done in groups of three, known as codons. The standard codon table applies for humans and mammals, but some other lifeforms (including human mitochondria) use different translations.
General transfers of biological sequential information
{ |class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Table of the three classes of information transfer suggested by the dogma |- !General !! Special !! Unknown |- | DNA → DNA || RNA → DNA || Protein → DNA |- | DNA → RNA || RNA → RNA || Protein → RNA |- | RNA → protein || DNA → protein || Protein → protein |}
DNA replications
In the sense that DNA replication must occur if genetic material is to be provided for the progeny of any cell, whether somatic or reproductive, the copying from DNA to DNA arguably is the fundamental step in information transfer. A complex group of proteins called the replisome performs the replication of the information from the parent strand to the complementary daughter strand.
The replisome comprises: