Dr. Martin Peter Edelmann

It would be a milestone for synthetic biology to introduce a fully in vitro developed functionality - that is not based on anything we know in biology (therefore synthetic) - into the metabolism of a cell. In the framework of a external page HFSP grant, I craft a novel genetic system which forces E. coli to utilize such an artificial catalyst that can charge tRNAs with canonical and non-canonical amino acids. In all living organisms known today aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are exclusively responsible for this central metabolic function. Our goal is to lift this monopoly and by that introduce our own backdoor into the genetic code of a living organism.