Reprogramming the Code of Life

Synopsis

Video recording of the Francis Crick Prize Lecture given at the Royal Society by Dr Jason Chin, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, on 26 November 2009.

The information for synthesizing the molecules that allow organisms to survive and replicate is encoded in genomic DNA. In the cell, DNA is copied to messenger RNA, and triplet codons in the messenger RNA are decoded in the process of translation to synthesize polymers of the natural 20 amino acids. This process (DNA > RNA > protein) describes the central dogma of molecular biology and is conserved in terrestrial life. Dr Chin discusses the application of the approaches he has developed for incorporating unnatural amino acids into proteins and investigating diverse biological processes, with a particular emphasis on understanding the role of post-translational modifications. He discusses the invention and synthetic evolution of new orthogonal translational components (including ribosomes and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases) to address the major challenges in re-writing the central dogma of biology.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2009

Year of production

2009

Subjects

Biology

Keywords

genetics; human genome; molecular biology; protein synthesis

Online availability

URI

http://royalsociety.tv/dpx_royalsociety/dpx.php?cmd=autoplay&type=solo&dpxuser=dpx_v12&pres=462

Price

free

Delivery

Streamed

Credits

Contributor

Jason Chin

Distributor

Name

Royal Society: Royalsociety.tv

Email

http://royalsociety.org/contact-us/?from=header

Web

http://royalsociety.org/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7451 2500

Address

6-9 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5AG

Notes

Royalsociety.tv offers live webcasts as well as podcasts and free, on-demand streaming of video and audio recordings of events held at the Royal Society. Lectures and discussions feature leading scientists and cover history of science as well as exploring cutting-edge science and culture.