The Evolution of Adenine Synthesis

Adenine Synthesis in Life

Life synthesizes adenine directly on the ribose ring. Eleven enzymes are required to make this happen. If a single enzyme is not functional, then no adenine can be synthesized. It is an irreducibly complex system. Before natural selection can help, all eleven enzymes must at least be marginally functional. The enzyme names and number of amino acids per enzyme are listed in table 13.1. The enzyme names are not important for this discussion and are given only for reference.

Table 13.1 Enzymes Required for Adenine Syntheses

Total amino acids = 4,527

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