Author:

Abstract:

In this project we want to adapt an existing enzyme (Therminator DNA polymerase) to incorporate xenonucleotides. The chosen xenonucleotide is a 2'-deoxyxylo nucleotide, which contains a xylose sugar group instead of the canonical deoxyribose of DNA. The spinal structure of the xylo nucleic acid (xylo-NA) thus formed is strongly different from DNA and RNA. This makes it a more orthogonal candidate for xenonucleotides than the artificial nucleic acids for which polymerases have already been developed.