Over 500 natural and synthetic amino acids have been genetically encoded in the last two
decades. Incorporating these noncanonical amino acids into proteins enables many …

Selenocysteine, the selenium‐containing analogue of cysteine, is the twenty‐first
proteinogenic amino acid. Since its discovery almost fifty years ago, it has been exploited in …

The genetic code—the language used by cells to translate their genomes into proteins that
perform many cellular functions—is highly conserved throughout natural life. Rewriting the …

The genetic code, initially thought to be universal and immutable, is now known to contain
many variations, including biased codon usage, codon reassignment, ambiguous decoding …

Pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS) and its cognate tRNAPyl have emerged as ideal
translation components for genetic code innovation. Variants of the enzyme facilitate the …

Abstract Selenocysteine (Sec), the 21st genetically encoded amino acid, is structurally
similar to cysteine (Cys) but with a sulfur to selenium replacement. This small change …

Cross-metathesis (CM) has recently emerged as a viable strategy for protein modification.
Here, efficient protein CM has been demonstrated through biomimetic chemical access to …

Highlights•Selenocysteine endows proteins with novel redox properties.•New recombinant
and chemical methods are facilitating selenoprotein production.•Many natural …

Ribosomes are remarkable in their malleability to accept diverse aminoacyl-tRNA substrates
from both the same organism and other organisms or domains of life. This is a critical feature …

Transfer RNAs have been extensively explored as the molecules that translate the genetic
code into proteins. At this interface of genetics and biochemistry, tRNAs direct the efficiency …