Answer to Question #93381 in Biochemistry for Kylie

Question

The genetic code is said to be degenerate, unambiguous, non-overlapping,
without punctuation and is universal. Explain each aspect of this statement.

Answer 1

Degenerate means that a single amino acid consists of more than one base each with three codons.

Unambigunity out rules the possibility of one codon coding for two different codes.

Non-overlapping feature of the genetic code means that one letter cannot represent two different codons.

The genetic code is without punctuation means its representation is continuous and there is no punctuation mark to separate two codes.

Universality of the genetic code means that one base triplet encodes same amino acids in all organisms irrespective of the taxonomic unit.