Ribosomal incorporation of non-α-amino acid monomers into proteins is largely restricted to in vitro translation. Now, pyrrolysyl-transfer RNA synthetase variants have been shown to acylate tRNAs with α-thio acids, malonic acids, and N-formyl amino acids. This work represents a key step towards the programmed ribosomal synthesis of sequence-defined non-protein polymers in cellulo.
- Riley Fricke
- Cameron V. Swenson
- Alanna Schepartz
