Do ribosomes operate at the speed-accuracy-cost optimum?
In plain words
The ribosome, the machine that builds proteins, could be more accurate if it slowed down or spent more energy. The question is whether its measured rates place it at the best possible balance.
Precise statement
Using measured rate constants of E. coli ribosome decoding (initial selection plus GTP-dependent proofreading; error approximately $10^{-4}$ to $10^{-3}$ per codon at approximately 10 to 20 codons/s), determine whether the operating point lies on the Pareto front of (error, speed, dissipation per codon) for its network topology, and which quantity selection weights most.
What would settle it
A complete set of measured decoding rate constants for many tRNA-codon pairs, analyzed against the computed Pareto front of the decoding network.
Status in the literature
A 2017 kinetic analysis (Banerjee, Kolomeisky and Igoshin) concluded that speed is prioritized over accuracy; generality across tRNAs and organisms is open.
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