In one, he deduced a correspondence table between what was then known as "soluble RNA" and DNA based upon their respective base pair ratios.

During their experiments with rat liver cells, Hoagland and Zamecnik noticed that in the presence of ATP, amino acids associate with heat soluble RNA, which was later named transfer RNA (tRNA).

In the 1960s, the abbreviation sRNA was used to refer to "soluble RNA," which is now known as transfer RNA or tRNA (for an example of the abbreviation used in this sense, see.)