Quadrupling Genetic Power
Jason Chin and his team at the University of Cambridge have managed successfully create synthetic genes with expanded numbers of codons.
In the current genetic code, the four letters of genetic code, G, A, C, & T (otherwise known as nucleotides) are read in triplets. In other words, each triplet forms a single amino acid. These amino acids either tell cells to construct protein chains (or command such growth to stop) and from this, a myriad of life forms are created.
By this method, there are 64 possible combinations (codons) of the nucleotides. However the Cambridge team has managed to find a way to redesign the cells to read nucleotides in quadruplets. This means that 256 codons are now possible, with all the variation that implies.
Think about the vast difference in imaging power between 64-bit and 256-bit graphics and how that upgrade revolutionized computing, and you begin to get the idea about the possibilities here.
Some of the advantages of this new development include proteins that don't lose their disulphide bonds (3D structure) even when hear or acidity are applied, meaning that it might be possible to make a drug that can be taken orally, without being destroyed by the acids in the patient's stomach. It might even be possible to mix polymers with organics creating more adaptable life forms.
For more, CLICK HERE.
In the current genetic code, the four letters of genetic code, G, A, C, & T (otherwise known as nucleotides) are read in triplets. In other words, each triplet forms a single amino acid. These amino acids either tell cells to construct protein chains (or command such growth to stop) and from this, a myriad of life forms are created.
By this method, there are 64 possible combinations (codons) of the nucleotides. However the Cambridge team has managed to find a way to redesign the cells to read nucleotides in quadruplets. This means that 256 codons are now possible, with all the variation that implies.
Think about the vast difference in imaging power between 64-bit and 256-bit graphics and how that upgrade revolutionized computing, and you begin to get the idea about the possibilities here.
Some of the advantages of this new development include proteins that don't lose their disulphide bonds (3D structure) even when hear or acidity are applied, meaning that it might be possible to make a drug that can be taken orally, without being destroyed by the acids in the patient's stomach. It might even be possible to mix polymers with organics creating more adaptable life forms.
For more, CLICK HERE.
posted by CTF Editor at
3:52 PM
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