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Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System
Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System (AEGIS) is a synthetic DNA analog experiment that uses some unnatural base pairs from the laboratories of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida. AEGIS is a NASA-funded project to try to understand how extraterrestrial life may have developed. The system uses twelve different nucleobases in its genetic code. These include the four canonical nucleobases found in DNA (adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine) plus eight synthetic nucleobases). AEGIS includes S: B, Z: P, V:J and K:X base pairs. See also * Abiogenesis * Astrobiology * Hachimoji DNA * xDNA * Hypothetical types of biochemistry Hypothetical types of biochemistry are forms of biochemistry agreed to be scientifically viable but not proven to exist at this time. The kinds of living organisms currently known on Earth all use carbon compounds for basic structural and metab ... * Xeno nucleic acid References Astrobiology Biotechn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nucleic Acid Analogue
Nucleic acid analogues are compounds which are Analog (chemistry), analogous (structurally similar) to naturally occurring RNA and DNA, used in medicine and in molecular biology research. Nucleic acids are chains of nucleotides, which are composed of three parts: a phosphate backbone, a pentose sugar, either ribose or deoxyribose, and one of four nucleobases. An analogue may have any of these altered. Typically the analogue nucleobases confer, among other things, different base pairing and base stacking properties. Examples include universal bases, which can pair with all four canonical bases, and phosphate-sugar backbone analogues such as peptide nucleic acid, PNA, which affect the properties of the chain (PNA can even form a triple helix). Nucleic acid analogues are also called Xeno Nucleic Acid and represent one of the main pillars of xenobiology, the design of new-to-nature forms of life based on alternative biochemistries. Artificial nucleic acids include peptide nucleic ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isoguanine
Isoguanine or 2-hydroxyadenine is a purine base that is an isomer of guanine. It is a product of oxidative damage to DNA and has been shown to cause mutation. It is also used in combination with isocytosine in studies of unnatural nucleic acid analogues of the normal base pairs in DNA.Christopher Roberts, Rajanikanth Bandaru, Christopher Switzer: „Theoretical and Experimental Study of Isoguanine and Isocytosine: Base Pairing in an Expanded Genetic System", ''J. Am. Chem. Soc.'', 1997, ''119'' (20), pp. 4640–4649 (). It is used as a nucleobase Nucleobases, also known as ''nitrogenous bases'' or often simply ''bases'', are nitrogen-containing biological compounds that form nucleosides, which, in turn, are components of nucleotides, with all of these monomers constituting the basic b ... of hachimoji nucleic acids. In hachimoji DNA, it pairs with 1-methylcytosine, while in hachimoji RNA, it pairs with isocytosine. References Purines Nucleobases ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used by Károly Ereky in 1919, meaning the production of products from raw materials with the aid of living organisms. Definition The concept of biotechnology encompasses a wide range of procedures for modifying living organisms according to human purposes, going back to domestication of animals, cultivation of the plants, and "improvements" to these through breeding programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization. Modern usage also includes genetic engineering as well as cell and tissue culture technologies. The American Chemical Society defines biotechnology as the application of biological organisms, systems, or processes by various industries to learning about the science of life and the improvement of the value of materials ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypothetical Types Of Biochemistry
Hypothetical types of biochemistry are forms of biochemistry agreed to be scientifically viable but not proven to exist at this time. The kinds of living organisms currently known on Earth all use carbon compounds for basic structural and metabolic functions, water as a solvent, and DNA or RNA to define and control their form. If life exists on other planets or moons it may be chemically similar, though it is also possible that there are organisms with quite different chemistries for instance, involving other classes of carbon compounds, compounds of another element, or another solvent in place of water. The possibility of life-forms being based on "alternative" biochemistries is the topic of an ongoing scientific discussion, informed by what is known about extraterrestrial environments and about the chemical behaviour of various elements and compounds. It is of interest in synthetic biology and is also a common subject in science fiction. The element silicon has been much di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
XDNA
xDNA (also known as expanded DNA or benzo-homologated DNA) is a size-expanded nucleotide system synthesized from the fusion of a benzene ring and one of the four natural bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. This size expansion produces an 8 letter alphabet which has a larger information density by a factor of 2n compared to natural DNA's (often referred to as B-DNA in literature) 4 letter alphabet. As with normal base-pairing, A pairs with xT, C pairs with xG, G pairs with xC, and T pairs with xA. The double helix is thus 2.4 Å wider than a natural double helix. While similar in structure to B-DNA, xDNA has unique absorption, fluorescence, and stacking properties. Initially synthesized as an enzyme probe by Nelson J. Leonard's group, benzo-homologated adenine was the first base synthesized. Later, Eric T. Kool's group finished synthesizing the remaining three expanded bases, eventually followed by yDNA ("wide" DNA), another benzo-homologated nucleotide system, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hachimoji DNA
Hachimoji DNA (from Japanese ''hachimoji'', "eight letters") is a synthetic nucleic acid analog that uses four synthetic nucleotides in addition to the four present in the natural nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. This leads to four allowed base pairs: two unnatural base pairs formed by the synthetic nucleobases in addition to the two normal pairs. Hachimoji bases have been demonstrated in both DNA and RNA analogs, using deoxyribose and ribose respectively as the backbone sugar. Benefits of such a nucleic acid system may include an enhanced ability to store data, as well as insights into what may be possible in the search for extraterrestrial life. The hachimoji DNA system produced one type of catalytic RNA (ribozyme or aptamer) ''in vitro''. Description Natural DNA is a molecule carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA) are nucleic acids; alon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrobiology
Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investigates the deterministic conditions and contingent events with which life arises, distributes, and evolves in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of molecular biology, biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry, astronomy, physical cosmology, exoplanetology, geology, paleontology, and ichnology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from that on Earth. The origin and early evolution of life is an inseparable part of the discipline of astrobiology. Astrobiology concerns itself with interpretation of existing scientific data, and although speculation is entertained to give context, astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scientific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abiogenesis
In biology, abiogenesis (from a- 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis 'origin') or the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities on Earth was not a single event, but an evolutionary process of increasing complexity that involved the formation of a habitable planet, the prebiotic synthesis of organic molecules, molecular self-replication, self-assembly, autocatalysis, and the emergence of cell membranes. Many proposals have been made for different stages of the process. The study of abiogenesis aims to determine how pre-life chemical reactions gave rise to life under conditions strikingly different from those on Earth today. It primarily uses tools from biology and chemistry, with more recent approaches attempting a synthesis of many sciences. Life functions through the specialized chemistry of carbon and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2,4-Diaminopyrimidine
2,4-Diaminopyrimidine is a diaminopyrimidine Diaminopyrimidines (DAP) are a class of organic chemical compounds that include two amine groups on a pyrimidine ring. They include many dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor drugs (such as pyrimethamine, trimetrexate, and piritrexim and the ant .... See also * 4,5-Diaminopyrimidine References {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaminopyrimidine, 2,4- Nucleobases Aminopyrimidines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5-Aza-7-deazaguanine
5-Aza-7-deazaguanine or 2-aminoimidazo ,2-a1,3,5]triazin-4(1H)-one is a 5-Aza-7-deazapurine base that is an isomer of guanine. It is used as a nucleobase of hachimoji DNA, in which it pairs with 6-Amino-5-nitropyridin-2-one 6-Amino-5-nitropyridin-2-one or 6-amino-5-nitro-2(1H)-pyridinone is a pyridine base. It is used as a nucleobase of hachimoji DNA, in which it pairs with 5-aza-7-deazaguanine 5-Aza-7-deazaguanine or 2-aminoimidazo,2-a1,3,5]triazin-4(1H)-one is .... References Nitrogen heterocycles Nucleobases {{organic-compound-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6-Amino-5-nitropyridin-2-one
6-Amino-5-nitropyridin-2-one or 6-amino-5-nitro-2(1H)-pyridinone is a pyridine base. It is used as a nucleobase of hachimoji DNA, in which it pairs with 5-aza-7-deazaguanine 5-Aza-7-deazaguanine or 2-aminoimidazo ,2-a1,3,5]triazin-4(1H)-one is a 5-Aza-7-deazapurine base that is an isomer of guanine. It is used as a nucleobase of hachimoji DNA, in which it pairs with 6-Amino-5-nitropyridin-2-one 6-Amino-5-nitropyri .... References Nucleobases 2-Pyridones Nitro compounds Amines {{organic-compound-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
