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A basic discovery

scientists have recently discovered the 22nd amino acid, the building blocks of proteins that carry out the functions of a living cell. This is a significant discovery that would enable scientists to manipulate the human genetic code to make proteins to speed chemical reactions. The amino acid was discovered by us-based Ohio State University researchers.

The new amino acid has been named pyrrolysine. Genes are composed of dna, a molecule made of pairs of chemicals called bases which are known by the letters a, c, g and t (adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine). When the hereditary instructions in a gene are carried out, the dna's code is transcribed into rna, which is made of bases a, c, g and u (uracil). The code within the rna is used three bases at a time for making the proteins that carry out every function in a living cell.

When rna's instructions are used to make a protein, three bases order production to start, and three bases, known as a

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