Scientists stunned by ‘fundamentally new way’ life produces #DNA;
Newly discovered bacterial defense system challenges #GeneticCode’s-central dogma.
For decades, biology textbooks have enshrined a simple rule: DNA is made by copying a template. After one enzyme unzips a DNA double helix into separate strands, another called a polymerase builds a complementary sequence, base by base, for each strand.
Presto: two copies of the original DNA.
But new research into how bacteria defend themselves from viruses now shows this synthesis rule isn’t absolute.
Now, a team describes a #BacterialEnzyme that #SynthesizesDNA-without a-#NucleicAcidTemplate, using its own structure as a guide.
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