Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have trapped the ribosome, a protein-building molecular machine essential to all life, in a key transitional state that has long eluded researchers. Now, for the first time, scientists can see how the ribosome performs the precise mechanical movements needed to translate genetic code into proteins without making mistakes.
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| This image of the molecules involved in translation of genes into proteins shows the ribosome in transparent rendering. In the foreground are the messenger RNA (green), the elongation factor EF-G (brown), and the four sequential positions of transfer RNA as it moves from right to left during translocation (dark blue, light blue, red, and gray). The tRNA positions are like four frames of a molecular movie describing its movement through the ribosome during protein synthesis. (Credit: H. Noller) |