A new study shows that the ability to predict genetics is steadily eroding during evolution
X-ray crystal structure rendering of the 700 million-year-old ancestral steroid receptor (blue), bound to DNA, in grey. Starting with this protein (and eight of its descendants), Thornton’s lab built libraries of mutants containing every possible amino acid state at all 76 sites in the protein (the spheres). Credit: Joe Thornton, Ochicago A critical goal in … Read more