The genetic code may seem like a recipe for life scripted with cold precision, but scientists are discovering that the code reads more like a poem in which syllables within words can bear hidden and critical meaning, according to an article scheduled for the Jan. 22 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.
In the article, C&EN senior editor Ivan Amato focuses on synonyms in the genetic code -- very short word-like sequences or codons that translate into exactly the same amino acids during construction of a protein. These so-called synonymous codons can influence the three-dimensional shape of a protein, architecture with critical implications for health and disease. "It's akin to the way the same hand can fold into an affirming thumbs-up conformation or into a shape involving the middle finger that conveys another sentiment altogether," Amato explains.
The article discusses how new research is revealing that this phenomenon -- termed silent polymorphism -- may be quite vocal biologically. It is involved, for instance, in the mechanism that renders about half of human cancers resistant to chemotherapy. Such findings have stirred new interest in understanding silent polymorphism, and determining its precise role in human health, the article points out.
ARTICLE #5
"Silent No Longer: Researchers unearth another stratum in the genetic code"
Michael Bernstein
ACS News Service
ACS News Service Weekly PressPac -- Jan. 17, 2007
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