jan 1, 2014 - Scientists add a new base pair (X and Y) to the DNA of E. Coli bacteria, which expands increases the number of possible DNA bases from 4 to 6.
Description:
In the new study, the researchers added the new pair of bases into bacterial genes that also contained the traditional bases. The microbes successfully decoded the DNA containing the unnatural bases and transcribed it into RNA molecules. Additionally, the bacteria used these RNA molecules to produce a variant of green fluorescent protein that contains unnatural amino acids. The traditional four DNA bases code for 20 amino acids, while the addition of X and Y could produce up to 152 amino acids, which might become building blocks for new drugs and other breakthroughs, which could be the next step to creating new useful items in the world. Overall, the possibilities are endless of what can be done using these new bases.
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