Posted: Jul 11, 2012 10:16 am
It would still be good to know how exactly the little bit of phosphorus is used. Is it in the bases or some amino acids, or both?
I suspect it's mainly the bases, because the shape of DNA gets distorted when large As atoms replace P, but proteins would simply fold differently. A distorted helix probably couldn't replicate or allow gene expression, because the enzymes involved might not work properly. That's only a suspicion, I don't know for sure.
I suspect it's mainly the bases, because the shape of DNA gets distorted when large As atoms replace P, but proteins would simply fold differently. A distorted helix probably couldn't replicate or allow gene expression, because the enzymes involved might not work properly. That's only a suspicion, I don't know for sure.