Transcription and translation are processes a cell uses to make all proteins the body needs to function from information stored in the sequence of bases in DNA. The four bases (C, A, T/U, and G in the ...

Living organisms synthesize a staggering variety of proteins by combining 20 amino acids into chains of any length and order. In the past, to expand protein diversity beyond the scope of these 20 ...

There are 20 canonical amino acids that are encoded by the genetic code of nearly all known organisms - there are only very few exceptions. In order to add novel building blocks to this existing ...

Scientists trying to engineer biologic molecules with new functions have long felt limited by the 20 amino-acid building blocks. Researchers are working to develop ways of putting new building ...

DNA is admired for its perfection as a programmable information molecule: it uses repeating polymerization chemistry to link four nucleotide building blocks (adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine) ...

Evolution settled on a genetic code that uses four letters to name 20 amino acids. Synthetic biologists adding new bases to DNA will be free to improve on nature — if they can. With recent innovations ...

The code of life is simple. Four genetic letters arranged in triplets—called codons—encode amino acids. These are the building blocks of proteins, the machinery that powers life. But the genetic code ...

Scientists created a synthetic genome for a bacterium by stringing together building blocks of DNA — and the new genome made the microbe immune to viral infection. "Our understanding of the genetic ...