GoKawiilScientists engineer bacteria-free system to run two genetic codes in parallel
Researchers have devised a method to operate two separate genetic codes at once without needing to re-engineer an organism's entire genome to accommodate the change. The approach was tested outside living cells, so it avoids the laborious process of altering every gene, as previous efforts required when adding new amino acids to bacterial proteins.
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Rewriting the genetic code has huge potential for synthetic biology, letting scientists build proteins with novel amino acids for new materials, drugs or safety features. This shortcut sidesteps the immense labor of past genome-wide edits, potentially speeding up experimentation even though it hasn't yet been proven inside a living cell.
- A new method runs two genetic codes simultaneously without altering an entire genome
- Previous work required editing every gene in a bacterial genome to add new amino acids
- The technique was tested outside living cells and still needs in-cell validation
The Machinery of Life" by David S. Goodsell — If this story about rewriting the genetic code left you wanting to actually picture ribosomes, tRNAs and proteins at work, Goodsell's illustrated tour of the cell is the perfect companion. His hand-painted molecular landscapes make the machinery behind translation intuitive in a way textbook diagrams never manage.
See The Machinery of Life" by David S. Goodsell on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-08-26
Published there as: “Researchers get two genetic codes to work at the same time”
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