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Nature 448, 1004-1005 (30 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/4481004a; Published online 29 August 2007

Translation: Duality in the genetic code

John F. Atkins1 & Pavel V. Baranov1

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The encoding of two non-universal amino acids involves dynamic redefinition of 'stop' signals in the genetic code. Bacteria with multiple proteins containing these amino acids add to our appreciation of coding versatility.

One of the greatest achievements of twentieth-century biology was the deciphering of the genetic code in the mid-1960s. This feat centred on the discovery that the nucleotides of messenger RNA containing the uracil, adenine, guanine and cytosine bases (abbreviated to U, A, G and C, respectively), are decoded in triplets, or codons, to signify individual amino acids and the 'stop' codons that terminate the synthesis of a protein.

  1. John F. Atkins is at the BioSciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, and the Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Utah 84112-5330, USA.
    Email: john.atkins@genetics.utah.edu
  2. Pavel V. Baranov is at the Department of Biochemistry, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
    Email: p.baranov@ucc.ie

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