Scientists accidentally discover a genetic code that breaks the rules of life

While studying a previously unknown protist, Oligohymenophorea sp. PL0344, from an Oxford pond, researchers at the Earlham Institute and University of Oxford found that two stop codons had been reassigned to two different amino acids. The work was published in PLOS Genetics in October 2023.

• Protist Oligohymenophorea sp. PL0344 was collected from a pond at Oxford University Parks
• Two stop codons were reassigned to two different amino acids
• Discovery made while testing a single-cell DNA sequencing method
• Findings published in PLOS Genetics in October 2023