Scientists accidentally discover a genetic code that breaks the rules of life
Scientists accidentally discovered a microscopic organism with a genetic code that breaks a rule researchers thought was nearly universal. While testing a new DNA sequencing technique, they examined a previously unknown protist collected from a freshwater pond at Oxford University. To their surprise, the organism uses two genetic signals that normally mark the end of a...
Key Takeaways
- Scientists accidentally discovered a microscopic organism with a genetic code that breaks a rule researchers thought was nearly universal.
- While testing a new DNA sequencing technique, they examined a previously unknown protist collected from a freshwater pond at Oxford University.
- To their surprise, the organism uses two genetic signals that normally mark the end of a gene to encode two entirely different amino acids instead.
Scientists accidentally discovered a microscopic organism with a genetic code that breaks a rule researchers thought was nearly universal. While testing a new DNA sequencing technique, they examined a previously unknown protist collected from a freshwater pond at Oxford University. To their surprise, the organism uses two genetic signals that normally mark the end of a gene to encode two entirely different amino acids instead. These signals were previously thought to evolve together, making the discovery particularly remarkable.
Original Publisher Attribution
This summary was curated from ScienceDaily.