Lovely #synbio read for those of you with an interest in peptide macrocycles:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-01082-0
The authors use an E.Coli that has been re-written to remove 3 codons from it's natural genome. Then, using those codons, they synthesize peptide macrocycles that contain non-natural amino acids.
Cool stuff :)
Genetically programmed cell-based synthesis of non-natural peptide and depsipeptide macrocycles - Nature Chemistry
Macrocyclic peptides can be genetically encoded and synthesized in cells; however, the programmable diversity is limited. Now, macrocycles containing two non-canonical amino acids have been genetically encoded and synthesized in codon-reassigned Syn61Ξ3 cells. Incorporating diverse hydroxy acids in Syn61Ξ3 cells enables the synthesis of non-natural depsipeptides containing either one or two ester bonds.

