Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

The Central Dogma

The Central Dogma

The central dogma explains the flow of genetic information from DNA nucleotides to the amino acid sequence of proteins.
RNA is the Missing Link Between DNA and Proteins
In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that DNA stores all the information needed for cellular functions and that proteins perform most of these functions. However, the mechanisms of converting genetic information into functional proteins remained unknown for many years. Initially, it was believed that a single gene is...

The Central Dogma

The Central Dogma

What is Genetic Engineering?

What is Genetic Engineering?

From DNA to Protein

From DNA to Protein

The flow of genetic information in cells from DNA to mRNA to protein is described by the central dogma, which states that genes specify the sequence of mRNAs, which in turn specify the sequence of amino acids making up all proteins. The decoding of one molecule to another is performed by specific proteins and RNAs. Because the information stored in DNA is so central to cellular function, it makes intuitive sense that the cell would make mRNA copies of this information for protein synthesis...

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary science that involves using principles from disciplines such as engineering, molecular biology, cell biology, and systems biology. It involves remodeling existing organisms from nature or constructing completely new synthetic organisms for applications such as protein or enzyme production, bioremediation, value-added macromolecule production, and the addition of desirable traits to crops, to name a few.
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Continuous Hypermutation and Evolution of Noncanonical Amino Acid Synthases.

ACS synthetic biology·2026

Same author

Continuous hypermutation and evolution of noncanonical amino acid synthases.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

BoltzGen: Toward Universal Binder Design.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Continuous Hypermutation and Evolution of Luciferase Variants.

ACS chemical biology·2025

Same author

Atomically accurate de novo design of antibodies with RFdiffusion.

Nature·2025

Same author

A chemical epigenetic tool to probe site-specific DNA-binding protein complexes.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Same journal

Lactate as a Chemical Modification on Proteins and Metabolites.

Annual review of biochemistry·2026

Same journal

Nucleocytoplasmic Transport.

Annual review of biochemistry·2026

Same journal

Packaging of Single-Stranded RNA in Viruses and Virus-Like Particles.

Annual review of biochemistry·2026

Same journal

Shaping of the Infant Gut Microbiome by Milk Oligosaccharides.

Annual review of biochemistry·2026

Same journal

Proteostasis Deregulation by Metabolism Drives the Hallmarks of Cancer.

Annual review of biochemistry·2026

Same journal

JoAnne Stubbe's Radical Path: A Story of Passion, Curiosity, and Persistence.

Annual review of biochemistry·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Optimizing the Genetic Incorporation of Chemical Probes into GPCRs for Photo-crosslinking Mapping and Bioorthogonal Chemistry in Live Mammalian Cells

Optimizing the Genetic Incorporation of Chemical Probes into GPCRs for Photo-crosslinking Mapping and Bioorthogonal Chemistry in Live Mammalian Cells

Published on: April 9, 2018

Adding new chemistries to the genetic code.

Chang C Liu¹, Peter G Schultz

¹The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. ccliu@berkeley.edu

Annual Review of Biochemistry

|March 24, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers have expanded the genetic code by incorporating around 70 unnatural amino acids (UAAs) into bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. This breakthrough enables the creation of proteins with novel functions and improved properties.

More Related Videos

Genetic Incorporation of Biosynthesized L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and Its Application to Protein Conjugation

Genetic Incorporation of Biosynthesized L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and Its Application to Protein Conjugation

Published on: August 24, 2018

Residue-specific Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids into Model Proteins Using an Escherichia coli Cell-free Transcription-translation System

Residue-specific Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids into Model Proteins Using an Escherichia coli Cell-free Transcription-translation System

Published on: August 1, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Optimizing the Genetic Incorporation of Chemical Probes into GPCRs for Photo-crosslinking Mapping and Bioorthogonal Chemistry in Live Mammalian Cells

Optimizing the Genetic Incorporation of Chemical Probes into GPCRs for Photo-crosslinking Mapping and Bioorthogonal Chemistry in Live Mammalian Cells

Published on: April 9, 2018

Genetic Incorporation of Biosynthesized L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and Its Application to Protein Conjugation

Genetic Incorporation of Biosynthesized L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and Its Application to Protein Conjugation

Published on: August 24, 2018

Residue-specific Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids into Model Proteins Using an Escherichia coli Cell-free Transcription-translation System

Residue-specific Incorporation of Noncanonical Amino Acids into Model Proteins Using an Escherichia coli Cell-free Transcription-translation System

Published on: August 1, 2016

Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology
Synthetic Biology

Background:

The genetic code traditionally comprises 20 canonical amino acids.
Expanding the repertoire of amino acids allows for novel protein functionalities.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and utilize unnatural amino acids (UAAs) in biological systems.
To explore the potential of UAAs for protein engineering and functional studies.

Main Methods:

Development of orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs.
Genetic incorporation of UAAs into Escherichia coli, yeast, and mammalian cells.

Main Results:

Successfully added approximately 70 UAAs to the genetic codes of multiple organisms.
Demonstrated the ability to create proteins with enhanced or novel properties using UAAs.

Conclusions:

Orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA technology significantly expands the protein-building toolbox.
UAAs offer unprecedented opportunities for designing proteins with tailored functions and for creating sophisticated biological probes.