II. Distribution of DNA base sequences--introductory remarks: DNA and genes.

Abstract

After the genetic code was discovered in the early 1960s, it was generally accepted that nearly all DNA in higher organisms was used to specify messenger RNA molecules at some time during their development. A small fraction could be set aside for the ribosomal and transfer RNAs and there was a problem about the rapidly turning over nuclear RNA which did not appear in the cytoplasm as message. By and large we considered that most DNA was potentially coding and the lone voices who talked of other kinds of DNA on the basis of somewhat flimsy evidence were largely ignored.