2. Academic Validation
  3. Rewriting the Genetic Code

Rewriting the Genetic Code

  • Annu Rev Microbiol. 2017 Sep 8;71:557-577. doi: 10.1146/annurev-micro-090816-093247.
Takahito Mukai 1,  Marc J Lajoie 2,  Markus Englert 1,  Dieter Söll 1 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511; email: dieter.soll@yale.edu.
  • 2 Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.
  • 3 Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
PMID: 28697669 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-micro-090816-093247
Abstract

The genetic code-the language used by cells to translate their genomes into proteins that perform many cellular functions-is highly conserved throughout natural life. Rewriting the genetic code could lead to new biological functions such as expanding protein chemistries with noncanonical Amino acids (ncAAs) and genetically isolating synthetic organisms from natural organisms and viruses. It has long been possible to transiently produce proteins bearing ncAAs, but stabilizing an expanded genetic code for sustained function in vivo requires an integrated approach: creating recoded genomes and introducing new translation machinery that function together without compromising viability or clashing with endogenous pathways. In this review, we discuss design considerations and technologies for expanding the genetic code. The knowledge obtained by rewriting the genetic code will deepen our understanding of how genomes are designed and how the canonical genetic code evolved.

Keywords

codon usage; genetic code; orthogonal; synthetic biology; translation engineering.

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