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Wouldn't any other copolymer work equally well for this purpose? (I know nothing about chemistry or biology, so this is probably a stupid question.)
by jasonhansel 8y ago
Wouldn't any other copolymer work equally well for this purpose? (I know nothing about chemistry or biology, so this is probably a stupid question.)
- mxwsn 8y agoIn principle sure, as long as you use a different polymer with similar biochemical stability, but a lot of money and tech development has gone into reading and synthesizing DNA in particular. Why reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
- xvilka 8y agoIn fact it might be even better with DNA, since you can use much bigger "alphabet" for this purpose, than nature gave us. Would tremendously increase storage capacity.
- astazangasta 8y ago...at the cost of bit errors.
- iso1337 8y agoThere are already xenobases being developed, eg Romesburg. Those add extra bases beyond the 4-5 seen in nature.
- xvilka 8y agoI know and was referring to them.
- shpongled 8y agoNot just tech... life has already provided us with optimized tools for reading, writing, translating, and correcting DNA. The chemical properties of DNA are well known, and it's an incredibly stable molecule. Doesnt really make sense to switch to a different copolymer.
- jasonhansel 8y agoGood point! Makes perfect sense.