The evolution of the genetic code: a work in progress

by Prof. Dieter Söll (Yale University)

Wednesday 10 Mar 2010, 18:00 → 19:00 Europe/Stockholm

Kungl. Vetenskapsakademien

After its elucidation in the 1960s Francis Crick described the Genetic Code (with twenty amino acids) as the result of a “Frozen Accident” incapable of further evolution. Genetic, biochemical and molecular biological studies in the intervening years provided evidence that the genetic code is still evolving and comprised of twenty-two natural amino acids. Based on the realization that protein plasticity is a feature of living cells, man-made expansion of the genetic code has begun by adding nonstandard amino acids to the repertoire of the cell. This lecture will describe how the genetic code is thought to have evolved, and what the present evolutionary developments mean for the creation of new organisms in the realm of synthetic biology. See http://www.kva.se/sv/Kalendariumlista/Event/?eventId=192 for further information.