From Newsgroup: talk.origins

An article in the latest Science notes the existence of a bacterium that produces DNA strands not from a DNA template, but by using an enzyme as
the template. Alex Gao is the lead researcher.

https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-stunned-fundamentally-new-way-life-produces-dna?utm_source=sfmc
--
Mark Isaak
"Wisdom begins when you discover the difference between 'That
doesn't make sense' and 'I don't understand.'" - Mary Doria Russell

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From Newsgroup: talk.origins

On 4/18/2026 11:06 AM, Mark Isaak wrote:

An article in the latest Science notes the existence of a bacterium that produces DNA strands not from a DNA template, but by using an enzyme as
the template. Alex Gao is the lead researcher.

https://www.science.org/content/article/scientists-stunned- fundamentally-new-way-life-produces-dna?utm_source=sfmc

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aed1656

Polymerizing nucleotides without a template is not new. What is new is
that this enzyme produces a dinucleotide repeat (ACACAC) without a
nucleic acid template. Adenine and cytosine fit into the active site to
form dimers and extend the polymer.

They do not understand how this dinucleotide repeat is used against
viral parasites. Instead of just replicating an AC repeat this system
evolved to produce such a polymer de novo without template.

Ron Okimoto

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