Since the initial discovery of ribozymes in the early 1980s, catalytic nucleic acids have been used in different areas. Compared with protein enzymes, catalytic nucleic acids are programmable in structure, easy to modify, and more stable especially for DNA. We take a historic view to summarize a few main interdisciplinary areas of research on nucleic acid enzymes that may have broader impacts. Early efforts on ribozymes in the 1980s have broken the notion that all enzymes are proteins, supplying new evidence for the RNA world hypothesis. In 1994, the first catalytic DNA (DNAzyme) was reported. Since 2000, the biosensor applications of DNAzymes have emerged and DNAzymes are particularly useful for detecting metal ions, a challenging task for enzymes and antibodies. Combined with nanotechnology, DNAzymes are key building elements for switches allowing dynamic control of materials assembly. The search for new DNAzymes and ribozymes is facilitated by developments in DNA sequencing and computational algorithms, further broadening our fundamental understanding of their biochemistry.

自从1980年代初期首次发现核酶以来，催化核酸已用于不同领域。与蛋白质酶相比，催化核酸的结构可编程，易于修饰，尤其对于DNA而言更稳定。我们以历史的观点总结了可能对核酸酶产生更大影响的核酸酶研究的几个主要跨学科领域。1980年代早期对核酶的研究打破了所有酶都是蛋白质的观念，为RNA世界假说提供了新的证据。1994年，第一个催化性DNA（DNAzyme）被报道。自2000年以来，DNA酶的生物传感器应用出现了，DNA酶对检测金属离子特别有用，这对酶和抗体来说是一项艰巨的任务。结合纳米技术，DNAzyme是开关的关键构建元素，可动态控制材料组装。DNA测序和计算算法的发展为寻找新的DNA酶和核酶提供了便利，从而进一步拓宽了我们对其生物化学的基本理解。