Researchers Find Way to Run Two Genetic Codes Simultaneously
Researchers have developed a method to operate two genetic codes at once, potentially easing synthetic biology work, according to Ars Technica.
The genetic code is the system that all life uses to convert information in DNA into specific protein sequences. With minor variations, the same code is shared by every organism on Earth, suggesting it existed in the last common ancestor of all life. Because so many processes inside cells depend on it, changing the code has been extremely difficult.
Earlier efforts to alter the genetic code have achieved only limited results. Researchers have managed to add new amino acids to bacterial cells and have produced proteins that were one amino acid shorter than usual. Some of that work required re-engineering every single gene in a bacterial genome.
The new approach sidesteps that burden by allowing two genetic codes to function simultaneously. The researchers did not test the system in an actual cell, and they said it might cause problems there. Still, they described the method as a creative solution that should accelerate certain synthetic biology research.