Why RNA and DNA have different structures

Abstract

In the early years of molecular biology - over 50 years ago - we were faced with many unknowns. A significant one at the time was the relationship between DNA and RNA, both in terms of structure and function. Function is often a reflection of structure. Here I outline some of the early research in this area, especially for RNA structure, which was completely unknown when we started. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.