Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026

A Facile Protocol to Generate Site-Specifically Acetylated Proteins in Escherichia Coli
Published on: December 9, 2017
The evolution of the ribosome and the genetic code
Hyman Hartman1, Temple F Smith2
1Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Science Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. hhartman@mit.edu.
Abstract:
The evolution of the genetic code is mapped out starting with the aminoacyl tRNA-synthetases and their interaction with the operational code in the tRNA acceptor arm. Combining this operational code with a metric based on the biosynthesis of amino acids from the Citric acid, we come to the conclusion that the earliest genetic code was a Guanine Cytosine (GC) code. This has implications for the likely earliest positively charged amino acids. The progression from this pure GC code to the extant one is traced out in the evolution of the Large Ribosomal Subunit, LSU, and its proteins; in particular those associated with the Peptidyl Transfer Center (PTC) and the nascent peptide exit tunnel. This progression has implications for the earliest encoded peptides and their evolutionary progression into full complex proteins.
Related Concept Videos
From DNA to Protein
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
The Central Dogma
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...

