Adding new DNA letters make novel proteins possible:\u00a0<\/span>One such, a cancer drug, is now in development.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0Here are some of my notes from it, the first two paragraphs being a first attempt (heavily dependent at this stage on the text of the article) to begin writing (and understanding) my own depiction, for use elsewhere, of the nature and function of RNA and DNA:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Virtually every terrestrial organism relies on a quartet of genetic bases: A (adenine), C (cytosine), T (thymine), and G (guanine). \u00a0These all fit together in pairs inside a molecule of\u00a0deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living cells as the main constituent of chromosomes and the carrier of genetic information. \u00a0Along its double strands, A matches T and C matches G.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the typical cell, the production of protein operates something like industrial manufacturing. \u00a0First,\u00a0DNA is transcribed into ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is also a string of bases but which is single-stranded rather than a double strand. \u00a0The bases of this RNA are then \u201cread,\u201d by a molecular machine called a \u201cribosome,\u201d in groups of three. \u00a0These groups are called \u201ccodons.\u201d \u00a0Of the 64 possible codons, 61 correspond to one of 20 versions of a type of molecule that\u2019s called an amino acid. \u00a0(The other three act as \u201cstop\u201d signals.) \u00a0When a ribosome reads a codon, it links it with another molecule carrying the appropriate amino acid, and the resulting amino acid string is a protein.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Floyd Romesberg and his laboratory at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, have now created a genetic alphabet that uses six<\/em> chemical letters (A, C, T, G, X, and Y) instead of the normal four. \u00a0In principle, at least, the two new letters permit an additional 152 potential codons, atop the already existing 64.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is the point of this? \u00a0Dr. Romesberg and his associates hope, first, to improve the effectiveness of the tumor-fighting (but thus far underperforming) drug interleukin-2. \u00a0(Read the article to see why.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
To steady the nerves of \u201cthose who worry about genetically modified organisms escaping from the lap,\u201d the article in The Economist<\/em> concludes by pointing out that, \u201cWithout a steady supply of X and Y, any escapee would not get far in the wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 The 19 January 2019 issue of The Economist\u00a0(pages 76-77) contains a very interesting article under the title of\u00a0\u201cExtending the genetic code:\u00a0Adding new DNA letters make novel proteins possible:\u00a0One such, a cancer drug, is now in development.\u201d \u00a0Here are some of my notes from it, the first two paragraphs being a first attempt (heavily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3196,596,3193],"class_list":["post-69784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cell-biology","tag-dna","tag-rna"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>