Over the last half century a quiet revolution has taken place. In a series of breathtaking
discoveries biochemist Thomas Cech and a diverse cast of brilliant scientists have revealed
RNA at the centre of biology's greatest mysteries from how life began to what makes us human
to why we age. At last The Catalyst pulls back the curtain to show how RNA-long sidelined as
the passive servant of DNA-defines life from its very origins to our future in the twenty-first
century. Recounting his own paradigm-shifting discovery that RNA can catalyse biochemical
reactions as well as his work on the "fountain of youth" telomerase Cech unfolds how RNA
holds the key to the intricate machinery of our cells the critical processes of ageing and
disease and the spectacular powers of breakthrough therapies from CRISPR to mRNA vaccines. From
one of our foremost scientists The Catalyst is a must-read guide to the present and future of
biology and medicine.
