Cells working with an expanded genetic code could make more diverse medicines. A new study shows scientists are within striking distance. One of modern biologists' most ambitious goals is to learn how ...

The beauty of the DNA code is that organisms interpret it unambiguously. Each three-letter nucleotide sequence, or codon, in a gene codes for a unique amino acid that's added to a chain of amino acids ...

How does DNA determine an organism’s characteristics? A process called translation decodes RNA created during transcription, and uses it to create proteins that perform specific cellular functions.

This circular diagram represents the genetic code, showing how the four nucleotide bases of RNA (adenine [A], cytosine [C], guanine [G], and uracil [U]) form codons that specify amino acids. Each ...

The degeneracy of the genetic code allows nucleic acids to encode amino acid identity as well as noncoding information for gene regulation and genome maintenance. The rare arginine codons AGA and AGG ...

The genetic code is the recipe for life, and provides the instructions for how to make proteins, generally using just 20 ...

A four-letter alphabet might seem limited, but it’s all nature needed to write the instructions for all life on the planet. News that researchers have added four letters to the genetic alphabet opens ...

As wildly diverse as life on Earth is—whether it’s a jaguar hunting down a deer in the Amazon, an orchid vine spiraling around a tree in the Congo, primitive cells growing in boiling hot springs in ...

LA JOLLA, CA—One of modern biologists’ most ambitious goals is to learn how to expand or otherwise modify the genetic code of life on Earth, in order to make new, artificial life forms. Part of the ...