Engineering Translation Components for Genetic Code Expansion

The expansion of the genetic code consisting of four bases and 20 amino acids into diverse building blocks has been an exciting topic in synthetic biology. Many biochemical components are involved in gene expression; therefore, adding a new component to the genetic code requires engineering many other components that interact with it. Genetic code expansion has advanced significantly for the last two decades with the engineering of several components involved in protein synthesis. These components include tRNA/aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, new codons, ribosomes, and elongation factor Tu. In addition, biosynthesis and enhanced uptake of non-canonical amino acids have been attempted and have made meaningful progress. This review discusses the efforts to engineer these translation components, to improve the genetic code expansion technology. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The expansion of the genetic code in synthetic biology has been a fascinating area of research. In the past two decades, significant progress has been made in engineering various components involved in protein synthesis, such as tRNA/aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase, new codons, ribosomes, and elongation factor Tu. Efforts to improve the technology of genetic code expansion have also been made through the biosynthesis and enhanced uptake of non-canonical amino acids.