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MORE EXCEPTIONS. “It was the stand-out nature of stop codons that first alerted Zahonova et al. to the presence of the new non-canonical codes in Blastocrithidia. But digging deeper they encountered something more interesting. The most frequent nuclear code change is UAR=Q (stop codons UAA and UAG to encode glutamine). Zahonova et al. found instead that UAR=E and that UGA=W (which is common in bacteria).” https://lnkd.in/d87ZWbH View in LinkedIn

STILL TO FIND. “In contrast, a code where two amino acid-encoding codons were altered would appear in DNA sequence to be slightly divergent, but not obviously translated by a different genetic code. But it is therefore possible, even likely, that non-canonical genetic codes involving switches between amino acids have been observed but escaped our detection.” https://lnkd.in/d87ZWbH View in LinkedIn

STOP CODONS. “Because the code governs the translation of nucleotide to amino acid sequences, a code can in principle only be confirmed when both the gene and protein sequences are known. Stop codons stick out as a sore thumb in DNA sequence because they disrupt the coding region in a way that is difficult to overlook or misinterpret, so these codes can be strongly inferred from DNA sequence.” https://lnkd.in/d87ZWbH View in LinkedIn

VARIANT INFERENCE. “These characteristics may render such changes more statistically probable, less likely to be deleterious, or both. However, most non-canonical genetic codes are inferred from DNA sequence alone, or occasionally DNA sequences and corresponding tRNAs.” https://lnkd.in/d87ZWbH View in LinkedIn

INSPIRATIONAL. "Sims’ work has inspired several other works on three-dimensional virtual creatures." https://lnkd.in/dW4WdiC View in LinkedIn

RARE EVENTS. “This may be a true reflection of natural diversity of the code, because stop codons are by definition rare (only one of three possibilities appearing per gene, whereas even rare amino acids are typically found many times) and the fidelity of termination is potentially less critical than other possible changes.” https://lnkd.in/d87ZWbH View in LinkedIn

LANDMARK PUBLICATION. Competition between Evolved Virtual Creatures (Karl Sims). https://lnkd.in/d5p72pa View in LinkedIn

DEVIANT CODES. “The evolutionary mechanisms that lead to codon reassignment and emergence of deviant codes involve changes in tRNA specificity and/or evolution of new specificities in the case of stop codon recruitment.” https://lnkd.in/dKTqJpY View in LinkedIn

KARL SIMS WAS THE FIRST big name in "evolved viral life" or "artificial life". Inspired by his work, many others explored this space, including some who made significant contributions. https://lnkd.in/dh-4NJm View in LinkedIn

VARIANT SIMILARITY. “Despite their differences, all genetic systems share one significant bias: the vast majority of changes to the code we presently know of involve termination or stop codons being reassigned to encode an amino acid.” https://lnkd.in/d87ZWbH View in LinkedIn