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Article: Biosynthetic organism may help answer evolutionary question about amino acids.
- Article from:
- Life Science Weekly
- Article date:
- February 3, 2003
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2003 FEB 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- From time immemorial, every living thing has shared the same basic set of building blocks: 20 amino acids from which all proteins are made. Until now.
A group of scientists say they have, for the first time, created an organism that can produce a 21st amino acid and incorporate it into proteins completely on its own. The research should help probe some of the central questions of evolutionary theory.
The project could eventually give concrete answers to questions that have generally been regarded as purely speculative: Is 20 the ideal number of basic building blocks? Would additional amino acids lead to ...