Genetic code
hideThe genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences) is translated into proteins (amino acid sequences) by living cells. The code defines a mapping between tri-nucleotide sequences, called codons, and amino acids. A triplet codon in a nucleic acid sequence usually specifies a single amino acid (though in some cases the same codon triplet in different locations can code unambiguously for two different amino acids, the correct choice at each location being determined by context). Because the vast majority of genes are encoded with exactly the same code (see the RNA codon table), this particular code is often referred to as the canonical or standard genetic code, or simply the genetic code, though in fact there are many variant codes. Thus the canonical genetic code is not universal. For example, in humans, protein synthesis in mitochondria relies on a genetic code that varies from the canonical code.
It is important to know that not all genetic information is stored using the genetic code. All organisms' DNA contain regulatory sequences, intergenic segments, and chromosomal structural areas that can contribute greatly to phenotype but operate using distinct sets of rules that may or may not be as straightforward as the codon-to-amino acid paradigm that usually underlies the genetic code (see epigenetics).
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News tagged with genetic code
Protecting the future: How plant stem cells guard against genetic damage
Nov 16, 2009 |
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Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, have shown how plants can protect themselves against genetic damage caused by environmental stresses. The growing tips of plant roots and shoots have an ...
Flemish researchers develop revolutionary technology for use in plant breeding
Nov 03, 2009 |
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In collaboration with researchers at VIB-UGent and the University of Antwerp (Belgium), scientists at the BioScience business group of Bayer CropScience AG in Gent have developed a technology that can significantly increase ...
Jumping genes, gene loss and genome dark matter
Oct 07, 2009 |
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In research published today by Nature, an international team describes the finest map of changes to the structure of human genomes and a resource they have developed for researchers worldwide to look at the ...
Genome-wide study of autism published in Nature
Oct 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In one of the first studies of its kind, an international team of researchers has uncovered a single-letter change in the genetic code that is associated with autism. The finding, published ...
Researcher solves mystery about proteins that package the genome
Oct 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Florida State University College of Medicine researcher has solved a century-old mystery about proteins that play a vital role in the transfer of the human genetic code from one cell to ...
Novel polymer delivers genetic medicine, allows tracking
Oct 06, 2009 |
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Theresa M. Reineke, associate professor of chemistry in the College of Science, and colleagues in her lab at Virginia Tech and at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new molecule that can travel ...
Telltale moss: Mother Nature gives clues for improving stem cell techniques
Sep 29, 2009 |
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Hikers know that moss on a tree trunk always points north. According to new research by Israeli and German scientists, this ancient plant may also provide a new "compass" for stem cell research, telling scientists how better ...
Junk DNA may prove invaluable in quest for gene therapies
Sep 21, 2009 |
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Scientists have identified how a protein enables sections of so-called junk DNA to be cut and pasted within genetic code - a finding which could speed development of gene therapies.
New images capture cell's ribosomes at work, could aid in molecular war against disease
Aug 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have for the first time captured elusive nanoscale movements of ribosomes at work, shedding light on how these cellular factories take ...
Are you the next Usain Bolt? The answer could be in your saliva
Aug 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Newcastle University are launching a ground-breaking study to find out why some of us can run faster than others - despite doing the same amount of training.
Professor sequences his entire genome at low cost, with small team
Aug 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first few times that scientists mapped out all the DNA in a human being in 2001, each effort cost hundreds of millions of dollars and involved more than 250 people. Even last year, when ...
Chemists Rationally Design Inhibitors Against an RNA Molecule that Causes Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy
Aug 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists at the University at Buffalo have used rational drug design to synthesize small, cell-permeable molecules that are effective in vitro against two common types of myotonic muscular ...
Model suggests how life's code emerged from primordial soup
Aug 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1953, Stanley Miller filled two flasks with chemicals assumed to be present on the primitive Earth, connected the flasks with rubber tubes and introduced some electrical sparks as a stand-in for lightning. ...
Gene transcribing machine takes halting, backsliding trip along the DNA
Jul 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The body's nanomachines that read our genes don't run as smoothly as previously thought, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists.
Arizona researchers to sequence West African rice strain
Jul 13, 2009 |
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A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow University of Arizona researchers to unlock the genetic code of West African cultivated rice - and along the way to gain knowledge that could help commercial ...
