Nirenberg and Matthaei experiment

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The Nirenberg and Matthaei experiment was a scientific experiment performed in 1961 by Marshall W. Nirenberg and Heinrich J. Matthaei. The experiment cracked the genetic code by using nucleic acid homopolymers to translate specific amino acids.

In the experiment, an extract from bacterial cells that could make protein even when no intact living cells were present was prepared. Adding an artificial form of RNA, polyuridylic acid, to this extract caused it to make an unnatural protein composed entirely of the amino acid phenylalanine. This showed that RNA controlled the production of specific types of protein. The importance of the break-through-work of Heinrich Matthaei was outlined by Hans-Jörg Rheinberger. In his book "Experimentalsysteme - Eine Geschichte der Proteinsynthese im Reagenzglas" the experimental work is shown in the worldwide rallye of biochemists. The book is published at WALLSTEIN ISBN 3-89244-454-4 see:Toward a History of Epistemic Things Synthesizing Proteins in the Test Tube- Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

ISBN 0-8047-2785-6 cloth ISBN 0-8047-2786-4 paper