Nucleobases, in this case uracil and xanthine, are the components that make up two of the most important parts of any Earth-bound life form, DNA and RNA.

Perhaps the ancestral role of guide RNAs that direct U insertion and deletion in the related kinetoplastid protozoa was to provide a template scaffold to link modules.

After a culture period of about 1000 generations descendants of the original strain were obtained which used 5-chlorouracil as complete substitute for thymine.

Both collaborations have also studied the effects of low - energy electron attachment to halo- uracil molecules, in which a halogen atom such as bromine replaces a hydrogen atom.

An experiment in Japan found certain ingredients of beer , such as pseudouridine , melatonin , and a bromine can lessen the harm done by radiation to the human body .