Amino Acid Designer

🤔 What are Non-Natural Amino Acids?

Nature uses only 20 amino acids to build ALL proteins. But scientists have created 200+ new ones with superpowers! Add fluorine for PET imaging, click chemistry groups for precise drug attachment (Nobel Prize 2022), or D-amino acids that bacteria can't digest. FDA approved 8+ ADC cancer drugs using these in 2024!

Why revolutionary? Natural amino acids limit what proteins can do. Non-natural ones add: fluorescent tags for imaging, bioorthogonal chemistry (reactions that work only in living cells), protease resistance (drugs last longer), metal binding for catalysis.