Bacteria Build DNA Without a Template, Using the Enzyme as Blueprint
TL;DR
Stanford researchers studying the bacterial DRT3 defense system found that the Drt3b polymerase can synthesize DNA without a separate template, with the protein's own shape acting as the blueprint. The three-part complex—Drt3a, Drt3b, and a non-coding RNA—enables self-contained DNA construction, a previously unseen mechanism with implications for biology, evolution, and future biotech; understanding its role in antiviral defense and potential engineering remains to be explored, and the work was published in Science.
- DNA Can Be Built in a Way We've Never Seen Before, Study Finds ScienceAlert
- Scientists rethink DNA after discovering it can be built from scratch in a process they call 'doodling' Earth.com
- Stanford scientists discover polymerase that uses itself to make DNA NewsBytes
- Newly Discovered Bacterial Defense System Might Upend Fundamental “Rule” Over How DNA Is Made IFLScience
- Bacterial enzyme found to synthesize DNA using a protein template 동아사이언스
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