After working at M.I.T. for some years, the couple moved to Boulder and both joined the faculty at the University of Colorado in 1978. It was around this time that Cech had resolved to concentrate on more specific genetic material. From Notable Scientists, "He was particularly interested in what enables the DNA molecule to instruct the body to produce the various parts of itself," a process called gene expression. Though he had done some genetic research in the 1970s, he now purposed to "discover the proteins that govern the DNA transcription process onto RNA." What he and his research team would soon discover would shake the scientific community and rewrite textbooks.
Ribonucleic Acid
To understand Cech's groundbreaking discoveries, one must first appreciate the workings of chemical reactions. Most reactions are in need of a catalyst, a molecule that can aid a chemical reaction without being altered or consumed. Nearly all there actions that take place in any living cell require the workings of a biocatalyst, which we call enzymes. Enzymes work in myriad locations in the human body: in the liver to break down alcohol, for instance.
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