DNA Building Block Reinvented

Abstract
It might be assumed that mechanisms for the biosynthesis of essential DNA precursors would be conserved in all organisms. However, Murzin discusses new work ( Myllykallio et al.) showing that a large family of enzymes, named ThyX, synthesize thymidylate by an alternate mechanism. The structure of ThyX has been determined independently and together these findings pave the way for rational drug design.