Amazing Code of Life

There are 22 amino acids made of Oxygen, Phosphorus and Nitrogen.

Every protein in the world is constructed of these 22 chemicals.

No other molecule on earth, nor indeed in the entire universe is made up of so many different sub-units.

Triplets:

DNA is made of a sequence of 4 "bases"

A, T, G and C.

These are molecules that can be connected only in certain ways. They are arranged in a row along the DNA backbone.

They can be counted off by threes as you walk along the DNA strand.

Each combination of three bases is called a "triplet". Each triplet will code for one of the Amino Acids listed above.

All possible combinations are shown in the table:

Not all these combinations are used.

Like a microscopic copying machine the cell uses these codes to crank out the millions of proteins that the cell needs.

The "sequence" of any individual will be identical for every cell in his or her body and like a fingerprint it will remain the same over the the person's entire lifetime.

When law enforcement labs study someone's DNA, it is this sequence that they are looking at.

Amazing Code of Life

There are 22 amino acids made of Oxygen, Phosphorus and Nitrogen.

Every protein in the world is constructed of these 22 chemicals.

No other molecule on earth, nor indeed in the entire universe is made up of so many different sub-units.

Triplets:

DNA is made of a sequence of 4 "bases"

A, T, G and C.

These are molecules that can be connected only in certain ways. They are arranged in a row along the DNA backbone.

They can be counted off by threes as you walk along the DNA strand.

Each combination of three bases is called a "triplet". Each triplet will code for one of the Amino Acids listed above.

All possible combinations are shown in the table:

Not all these combinations are used.

Like a microscopic copying machine the cell uses these codes to crank out the millions of proteins that the cell needs.

The "sequence" of any individual will be identical for every cell in his or her body and like a fingerprint it will remain the same over the the person's entire lifetime.