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Nature Chemical Biology 2, 231–232 (1 May 2006) | doi:10.1038/nchembio0506-231

A library of RNA bridges

Ning Gao & Joachim Frank

The ribosome is a highly complex macromolecular machine that translates genetic information carried by the mRNA into a polypeptide. Translation of an mRNA in Escherichia coli starts with the formation of the 70S ribosome by association of its two subunits, the large 50S subunit (including the 23S rRNA) and the small 30S subunit (including the 16S rRNA).