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JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2004 96(7):504-505; doi:10.1093/jnci/96.7.504
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
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© 2004 Oxford University Press

NEWS

A Forgotten Debate: Is Selenocysteine the 21st Amino Acid?

Robert Longtin

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In Biology 101, students learn the genetic code covers exactly 20 amino acids. It is a number that most students readily repeat and that most biologists rarely, if ever, think to question.

But what if written into the genetic code of many organisms was a previously overlooked coding sequence, or codon, for a 21st amino acid? Who would determine whether this discovery actually met the criteria for a new amino acid? And what would those criteria even be?

That is the situation those who study selenium-containing proteins have faced over the past decade. Selenium, a trace element in the human diet that is incorporated into the active sites of some human proteins primarily in the form of selenocysteine, is currently one of the most hotly studied agents in cancer prevention. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are four phase III cancer prevention trials under way that involve selenium for . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Not So Fast

Lost in Translation

Need To Know Biology


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