#isoleucine — Public Fediverse posts

Researchers try to cut the #genetic code from 20 to 19 #aminoacids
Using #AI tools, the team reworked part of the #ribosome to need one less #aminoacid.
Most hypotheses suggest that earlier forms of life had partial genetic codes and used fewer than 20 amino acids. A team from Columbia and Harvard eliminated one of 20 currently in use. As a first attempt, they engineered a portion of the ribosome that worked without using an otherwise essential amino acid: #isoleucine.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/researchers-try-to-cut-the-genetic-code-from-20-to-19-amino-acids/

ScienceAlert: Cutting Back on Isoleucine an Amino Acid Increased Lifespan in Middle-Aged Mice Up to 33%

https://www.sciencealert.com/cutting-back-on-one-amino-acid-increased-lifespan-in-middle-aged-mice-up-to-33

#isoleucine

Isoleucine

ScienceAlert: Cutting Back on One Amino Acid Increases Lifespan of Mice Up to 33%
https://www.sciencealert.com/cutting-back-on-one-amino-acid-increases-lifespan-of-mice-up-to-33

#thisonething #isoleucine

Our preprint describes how #EffectivePopulationSize affects #AminoAcid usage. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.01.526552v2. Within highly exchangeable pairs of amino acids, high Ne species are able to prefer #arginine over #lysine, and #valine over #isoleucine. This matches #thermophile preferences, as expected from theories of marginal protein stability at mutation-selection-drift balance. 1/6
@hanonmcshea #NearlyNeutralTheory #MolecularEvolution #EvolgenPaper