All known life forms trace back to a last universal common ancestor (LUCA) that witnessed
the onset of Darwinian evolution. One can ask questions about LUCA in various ways, the …

Abstract α‐Amino acids are essential molecular constituents of life, twenty of which are
privileged because they are encoded by the ribosomal machinery. The question remains …

The standard genetic code defines the rules of translation for nearly every life form on Earth.
It also determines the amino acid changes accessible via single-nucleotide mutations, thus …

A central question in the evolution of the modern translation machinery is the origin and
chemical ethology of the amino acids prescribed by the genetic code. The RNA World …

The natural genetic code only allows for 20 standard amino acids in protein translation, but
genetic code reprogramming enables the incorporation of non-standard amino acids …

EFSA was asked by the European Commission to consider synthetic biology developments
for agri‐food use in the near future and to determine if the use of this technology is expected …

Xenobiology is the science of estranged life forms. More specifically, this is an emergent
technoscience that combines advances in genetic engineering with the design of biological …

Background Biosafety is a key aspect in the international Genetically Engineered Machine
(iGEM) competition, which offers student teams an amazing opportunity to pursue their own …

The complete ribosomal protein synthesis cycle and codon-amino acids associations are
universally preserved in all life taxa on Earth. This process is accompanied by a set of …

Highlights•To change the genetic code, we need to understand how it was originally
set.•The amino acid repertoire of the genetic code consists mainly of derivatives of …