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Nature 431, 257-258 (16 September 2004) | doi:10.1038/431257a; Published online 15 September 2004

Molecular biology:  Genetic code seizes pyrrolysine

Paul Schimmel1 & Kirk Beebe1

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Identification of the enzyme that mediates insertion of a rare amino acid, pyrrolysine, into protein solves a puzzle and expands the rules of the genetic code established nearly half a century ago.

The discovery of the genetic code that translates the information contained in DNA into proteins ranks as one of the greatest achievements of the past century. The code appeared before the split of the tree of life into the three great kingdoms — Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya — and has been maintained in all organisms as an algorithm that relates nucleotide triplets in genes to specific amino acids in proteins.

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