Patent ID: 7998904

Claim:
An in vitro method of performing synthesis from a nucleic acid template to produce a reaction product that is not a nucleic acid, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing, in a single solution, (i) a template comprising a first reactive unit covalently attached to a first oligonucleotide defining a first codon sequence and a second, different codon sequence, wherein the codon sequences comprise at least eight bases, and (ii) a transfer unit comprising a second reactive unit covalently attached to a second oligonucleotide defining a single anti-codon sequence, wherein the anti-codon sequence is a first anti-codon sequence complementary to the first codon sequence of the template; and (b) permitting the first codon and the first anti-codon sequences to anneal to one another to bring the first reactive unit and the second reactive unit into reactive proximity whereupon the first reactive unit reacts with the second reactive unit, without the assistance of a ribosome, to produce the reaction product that is covalently attached to the template.