A code for protein translation fidelity

Protein translation is the most error-prone information-processing phase of the Central Dogma. Many of the proteins made by cells contain at least one error. Translation fidelity appears to have been shaped by evolution, in a gene-specific manner. In my talk I will present our new experimental-computational methodologies for the detection, quantification and mapping of translation errors proteome-wide in diverse organism, from bacteria to human. Our main findings are that the tendency of the ribosome to make mistakes is coded within translated genes, in the tRNA pool and in the rest of the translation machinery. Translation errors appear to be harnessed by cells to generate phenotypic variability that may facilitate evolutionary processes. I will discuss also our attempt to use programmed translation errors for a new strategy for vaccine design.