Interviewee: François Jacob. François Jacob, Sydney Brenner and Matt Meselson worked on the role of mRNA. An on/off switch involving mRNA seemed a logical control point for protein production. (DNAi Location: Code > Controlling the code > Players > François Jacob and Jacques Monod >The on/off switch)

This common model was that the gene was making this messenger RNA, coming through the ribosome and that the control of the expression of the gene was at the level of the production of messenger RNA. And so I brought this model to Monod who at first didn't like it, and find a lot of argument against. And one of the arguments against was that he could have the production of enzyme at different slope, that is different intensity of synthesis, and he said that he couldn't see in my model how it worked. And I said that you could simply act by, the model was that you have some kind of a switch to make the messenger RNA, and that closing or opening the switch at different speed could result in the production at different speed of the protein. And I gave him as a model my son, who has an electric train, who is not, no rheostat, he could not change the intensity of the current in the machine but he was switching back and forth and then he could regulate the speed.

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