Scientists found out that, although there was a very large combination of amino acids that were possible, Coded Amino Acids (CAA) may have been preserved through the evolution process since it made animals much fitter; in return, these animals could reproduce and pass on the chemicals to their offsprings.
The fundamental building block of life, Coded Amino Acids (CAA) has been modeled by a team of scientists working at Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. CAA is a set of 20 coded amino acids that is found universally in all forms of life on earth. CAA constructs the proteins found in living organisms. It is believed that CAA was standardized during the evolution period.
The team started by measuring out how CAA compares to random amino acids and the results were only 1 in a billion set of amino acids displayed characteristics similar to CAA. Considering that there are millions of amino acids, which their combination gives the biological proteins the large molecules responsible for their life’s catalysis and their unique capabilities. Research into CAA has followed similar paths and methods taken by other researchers working on DNA structure using modern technology.
Coded amino acids integrated into the tool kit
Statistical methods were used during the carrying out of research because of the large number of combinations that were possible to form an amino acid. The team had settled on how to make 3 to 20 amino acids based on a special library of 1913 structurally diverse “virtual” amino acids. After crunching of numbers, there were about 1048 combinations.
Every time a new form of CAA was discovered during the evolution process, it was selectively integrated into the biologicals toolkit of the organism and provided an adaptive value among a huge number of alternatives.
The finding, in conclusion, paints a picture that it just might be possible that other life forms outside our planet may just have the same biological building blocks as our own. This is because, even after a large variety of starting points, the formation of the amino acids ends up converging at a similar set during the evolutionary process.
