A team of scientists used a computer program to discover more than 1 million molecules that could store genetic information, just like DNA.

DNA and its cousin RNA store genetic information and allow life as we know it, but what if millions of lesser known chemicals could do exactly the same?

A new study suggests that more than 1 million similar chemicals could encode biological information in the same way as DNA does. The new study could point the way to new goals for pharmaceutical drugs, explain how life on Earth evolved and even help us find ways to live beyond our planet, according to the authors.

Jay Goodwin, chemist at Emory University and co-author of the study, said in a release:

It is really exciting to consider the potential of alternative genetic systems … that could possibly have arisen and evolved in different environments, perhaps even on other planets or moons within our solar system. ”

DNA and RNA, the two known types of nucleic acids contain chemical bits called nucleotides, which bind in a particular order and transmit different data, depending on their sequence, similar to individual letters within a written sentence. Some natural and artificial molecules mimic the basic structure of DNA, but so far, no one had tried to count how many of these similarities could exist, the authors wrote.

Jim Cleaves, chemist at Tokyo Institute of Technology said in a statement:

There are two types of nucleic acids in biology. We wanted to know if there is one more to find or even a million more. The answer is that there seems to be many, many more than expected. ”

Simulating DNA-like molecules

The authors designed a computer program to generate chemical formulas for molecules similar to nucleic acids. In DNA, nucleotides are joined in different pairs and joined in a line, so scientists made sure that their generated molecules could be formed in the same way. In the end, his program gathered more than 1,160,000 different molecules that met these basic criteria.

Markus meringer, chemist at German Aerospace Center in Cologne, said in a statement:

“We were surprised by the result of this calculation. It would be very difficult to estimate a priori that there are more than one million scaffolds similar to nucleic acids. Now we know, and we can start analyzing some of these in the laboratory. ”

The multitude of similarities can clarify the story of how life arose on Earth, before DNA and RNA dominated the world of biology. Theoretically, evolution may have performed “tests” with some of these other molecules before establishing nucleic acids as the best carriers of genetic data, the authors suggested.

The similar ones can also boost future medical advances, they added. According to the statement, drugs that resemble nucleotides are already used to undermine dangerous viruses and malignant cancer cells in the human body. With a library of structurally similar molecules at hand, drug developers could adopt similar DNA as an important weapon in the fight against disease.

Pieter Burger, biochemist of the Emory University said in a statement:

It is absolutely fascinating to think that through the use of modern computational techniques we could find new medicines by looking for alternative molecules to DNA and RNA that can store hereditary information. ”

The scientific study has been published in Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.

Source: Live science

University of California biochemist David Dimer has been studying the world at the cellular level for over 40 years. Most of all, as Dimer himself says, he is impressed by cell membranes surrounded by fatty membranes. The scientist is convinced that these membranes became the reason for the appearance of life on Earth.

“For life to appear, simple molecules had to become more complex. The process of complication led to the appearance of RNA, a chemical chain consisting of repeating subunits. There were terrible conditions on young Earth, but the membranes provided the necessary reactions, ”explained Dimer.

According to the biochemist, primary cell membranes “absorbed” chemicals on Earth, acting as microscopic chemical laboratories. Most of the reactions were unsuccessful, but a tiny fraction of them nevertheless led to the appearance of the first biological molecules.

“On the early Earth, there were all the necessary ingredients for the emergence of life, so that only stable favorable conditions were needed to trigger reactions. Life could have originated in a puddle under the shadow of a volcano, as there was a lot of chemistry and a comfortable temperature, ”added Dimer.

An ideal place for the origin of life, the biochemist considers the foot of the volcanic massifs that can be observed today in Iceland. Such areas were well suited for the appearance of protocells due to the regular cycle of heating and cooling of fresh water with an abundance of chemical elements.

An Australian company called Imugene has created a virus that can eliminate all types of cancer. So far it has been tested on Petrie plates and mice, where it worked by reducing tumors and killing diseased cells. Human tests should start soon.

Although it seems strange that a virus is used to treat a disease, this is possible and scientists have been doing it for years. A modified herpes virus has been implemented to treat some types of skin cancer.

Now, scientists are using cowpox virus as the basis for their cancer treatment, called CF33. The first tests on mice have reduced tumor cells, so Imugene believes that the next logical step is to perform experiments on humans, in order to verify the effectiveness of the treatment.

During the next tests, which will take place next year in Australia and other countries, the treatment will be implemented in some types of specific cancers, such as triple negative breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer, bladder cancer, gastric cancer and intestinal.

Professor Yuman Fong, a cancer treatment specialist, told the Daily Telegraph that there is evidence that some viruses could fight cancer since the early 1900s when people were vaccinated against rabies and their cancer disappeared. entered the reference phase.

However, it was feared that just as the virus was toxic to cancer, it was also to humans, but now things are different and could be the best way to attack cancerous tumors.

In Imugene experiments, patients will observe that the virus will be injected directly into their tumors, where it will multiply to the point of destroying it. The immune system itself should therefore be alerted to other cancer cells in the body, attacking and eliminating them.

This is very promising, but it will take years before the health strategy is used in hospitals, because it remains to be seen how the immune system reacts to the virus itself. Furthermore, cancer cells mutate to survive, and this is how they have become resistant to treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

source: Daily Telegraph