Tag

Polymerase

All articles tagged with #polymerase

science6 days ago•37 min saved

DNA Doodling: Enzymes Write Long DNA Strands Without Templates

Scientists have shown that DNA polymerases can generate long, patterned DNA without a template, producing tens of thousands of units by adjusting reaction conditions such as temperature and building-block availability. The output forms identifiable repeating patterns rather than random strings, suggesting a tunable pathway for long DNA synthesis with potential biotech applications, though researchers caution about error control and the uncertain behavior in living systems.

via Earth.com|

#biotechnology #dna #dna-doodling

science1 month ago•4 min saved

Bacteria Build DNA Without a Template, Using the Enzyme as Blueprint

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.

via ScienceAlert|

#anti-phage-defense #bacteria #dna-synthesis

science3 months ago•9 min saved

Tiny 45-base ribozyme copies itself, nudging origin-of-life theories

Researchers identified QT-45, a 45-base RNA ribozyme that can act like a tiny polymerase to copy RNA strands and, crucially, can synthesize a copy of its own sequence by base-pairing with a template. In tests, QT-45 copied various RNAs with about 95% fidelity (roughly 2–3 errors per copy), though the process is slow. This demonstrates self-replicating RNA is plausible at very small sizes and could be refined by evolution under prebiotic conditions.

via Ars Technica|

#origin-of-life #polymerase #ribozyme