The remarkable physicochemical properties of the natural nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, define modern biology at the molecular level and are widely believed to have been central to life's origins. However, their ability to form repositories of information as well as functional structures such as ligands (aptamers) and catalysts (ribozymes/DNAzymes) is not unique. A range of nonnatural alternatives, collectively termed xeno nucleic acids (XNAs), are also capable of supporting genetic information storage and propagation as well as evolution. This gives rise to a new field of "synthetic genetics," which seeks to expand the nucleic acid chemical toolbox for applications in both biotechnology and molecular medicine. In this review, we outline XNA polymerase and reverse transcriptase engineering as a key enabling technology and summarize the application of "synthetic genetics" to the development of aptamers, enzymes, and nanostructures.

中文翻译：

---

超越DNA和RNA：合成遗传学的扩展工具箱。

天然核酸，DNA和RNA的非凡的理化特性在分子水平上定义了现代生物学，并且被广泛认为对生命的起源至关重要。但是，它们形成信息库以及功能结构（例如配体（适体）和催化剂（核酶/ DNA酶））的能力不是唯一的。一系列非天然替代物（统称为异种核酸（XNA））也能够支持遗传信息的存储，传播以及进化。这就产生了“合成遗传学”的新领域，该领域试图扩展核酸化学工具箱，以用于生物技术和分子医学。在这篇评论中