Researchers get two genetic codes to work at the same time

Messing with the genetic code might have gotten a bit easier to do.

The short version

• The genetic code is what life everywhere uses to convert the information contained in DNA into specific protein sequences.
• With minor variations, the same genetic code is used by every living thing on Earth, suggesting it was already present in the last common ancestor of all of them.
• It’s not an easy thing to change, because so many things in every cell depend on it.

What happened

Nevertheless, some preliminary steps have been taken. Researchers have managed to add some new amino acids to a bacterial cell and were able to make proteins that were one amino acid less than usual.

Why it matters

But it’s a slog; for some of this work, people have had to re-engineer every single gene in a bacterial genome.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.