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Establishing the fundamental rules for genetic code expansion

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Genetic code expansion beyond α-amino acids is a major challenge, in which stitching together non-natural building blocks within the ribosome is a critical barrier. Now, the molecular determinants for the efficient incorporation of non-natural amino acids into the ribosome have been unlocked, accelerating ribosomal synthesis.

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Fig. 1: Structure-based computational approach to identify reactive non-l-α-amino acid substrates of the ribosome.
Fig. 2: Free-energy surfaces differentiate non-reactive and reactive substrates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, The University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Souvik Sinha, Mohd Ahsan & Giulia Palermo

  2. Department of Chemistry, The University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Giulia Palermo

Authors
  1. Souvik Sinha
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  2. Mohd Ahsan
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  3. Giulia Palermo
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Correspondence to Giulia Palermo.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Sinha, S., Ahsan, M. & Palermo, G. Establishing the fundamental rules for genetic code expansion. Nat. Chem. 15, 892–893 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01243-9

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