Genes Evolve To Minimize Protein Production Errors

Protein molecules must fold to become biologically active, and mistakes can cause misfolding, which can be toxic. Yet the protein-producing factories in our cells are estimated to make mistakes in 20 percent of the molecules they produce. Adaptations to this surprising sloppiness may be crucial in understanding the evolution of genes across species, from bacteria to humans, say Drummond and Wilke.

Essentially, they write, natural selection has fostered the evolution of genes that minimize the effects of errors in translation, the production of proteins from genetic templates in cells. An example is the careful placement of codons, which are sections of DNA that code for amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Some codons translate more accurately, and previous research had suggested that high-fidelity codons are positioned at key locations in the genome, where a mistake might be harmful. These studies, however, had only considered fast-growing organisms like E. coli bacteria and fruit flies.