(Tokyo, 24 August 2012) Tokyo Institute of Technology
researchers show simpler versions of the universal genetic code can still
function in protein synthesis
Daisuke Kiga and co-workers at the Department of
Computational Intelligence and Systems Science at Tokyo Institute of
Technology, together with researchers across Japan, have shown that simpler
versions of the universal genetic code, created by knocking out certain amino
acids, can still function efficiently and accurately in protein synthesis [1].
The researchers conducted experiments altering the genetic codein a test tube.
They removed the amino acid tryptophan and discovered that the resulting
simplified code could still generate proteins as before. By knocking out
individual amino acids and observing the effects, scientists will be able to
understand how early primordial organisms may have functioned and evolved.