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Abstract
Flexizymes are de novo ribozymes capable of charging a wide variety of non-natural
amino acids on tRNAs. The flexizyme system enables reprogramming of the genetic code
by reassigning the codons that are generally assigned to natural amino acids to non-natural
residues, and thus mRNA-directed synthesis of non-natural polypeptides can be achieved.
In this review, we comprehensively summarize the history of the flexizyme system and
its subsequent development into a practical tool. Furthermore, applications to the
synthesis of novel biopolymers via genetic code reprogramming and perspectives for
future applications are described.