Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Identifying Amino Acid Overproducers Using Rare-Codon-Rich Markers
Published on: June 24, 2019
The genetic code did not originate from an mRNA codifying polyglycine because the proto-mRNAs already codified for an
1Early Evolution of Life Laboratory, Institute of Biosciences and Bioresources, CNR, Via P. Castellino, 111, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Abstract:
I reply to Bernhart and Patrick (2014) that claim that the first amino acid to be codified in the genetic code was glycine, and that from mRNAs codifying for polyglycine originated all other codons of the genetic code. Indeed, given that the origin of protein synthesis should have preceded the one of the genetic code, then proto-mRNAs codifying for polimeric catalysts of the world in which originated the protein synthesis, should have been the more direct ancestors of mRNAs that originated in the world in which evolved the true genetic code. Therefore, it is clear that there would have been at least a partial evolutionary continuity between these proto-mRNAs and mRNAs. This evolutionary continuity has as logical consequence that cannot have existed of mRNAs codifying for only an amino acid because these mRNAs would descend from proto-mRNAs that already codified for more than one amino acid. Therefore, these mRNAs would not have reshaped their codifying capability to a single amino acid, without loss in the meaning of their coding, and this could not have occurred being counter selected. I also reply to other imprecisions made by Bernhart and Patrick (2014).
More Related Videos
10:31Residue-Specific Exchange of Proline by Proline Analogs in Fluorescent Proteins: How "Molecular Surgery" of the Backbone Affects Folding and Stability
Published on: February 3, 2022
11:08A Facile Protocol to Generate Site-Specifically Acetylated Proteins in Escherichia Coli
Published on: December 9, 2017
Related Concept Videos
From DNA to Protein
The Central Dogma
The Central Dogma
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
Leaky Scanning