Scribd
Upload
12 views

GeneticsAct ProteinCode

The document discusses a secret pseudo-protein code for encoding letters and decoding sentences about DNA and RNA. It also asks questions about the properties of different coding systems and how redundancy reduces errors in protein synthesis.

Uploaded by

Kurt Nicolo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
12 views

GeneticsAct ProteinCode

The document discusses a secret pseudo-protein code for encoding letters and decoding sentences about DNA and RNA. It also asks questions about the properties of different coding systems and how redundancy reduces errors in protein synthesis.

Uploaded by

Kurt Nicolo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Name: Cabanes, Rezzle Mae D.

Date: May 29, 2024

Secret Pseudo-Protein Code


The table shows the secret pseudo-protein code.

To decode the symbol CGU: (1.) Follow down the leftmost column labeled “First base”
until you find the letter C. All codes in this four by four block begin with the letter C. (2.) Go
across the row until you are in the “Second Base” column labeled lined up with the letter G. All
codes in this column have G as their second letter. (3.) Scan the “Third base” column on the far
right until you find the letter U. (4.) You should now be pointing at the letter “Y.” The code CGU
stands for “Y.”

To encode a the letter “ñ:” (1.) Find the letter “ñ.” (2.) Look to the left to find the first
code letter, A. (3.) Look up to find the second code letter, G. (4.) Look to the right to find the
third and last code letter, C. The letter “ñ” is coded as AGC.

Hints. Every message must begin with START. Every message ends when a STOP punctuation
mark appears. Good luck.

Decode this sentence about DNA:

START W a t s o n a n d C r i c k
AUG GAG UUC AAA AAU GCA GCU GGG UUC GCU CUG GGG CUU CAA UCA CUC CCA GGG

d i s c o v e r e d t H e
CUG UCA AAU CUC GCA GAA AUC CAA AUC CUG GGG AGA GUG AUC GGG

s t r u c t u r e o f D N A !
AAU AAA CAA GAU CUC AAA GAU CAA AUC GGG GCA GUU GGG CUA ACG UUU UAA

Write a sentence about RNA and then encode it.

STARTT h e s u g a r i n
AUG AAC UCU AUC GGG AAU GAU GUA UUC CAA GGG UCA GCU GGG

R N A i s c a l l e d
CAC AGU UUU GGG UCA AAU GGG CUC UUC ACU ACU AUC CUG GGG

r i b o s e .
CAA UCA UUG GCA AAU AUC UGA
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

1. How many different characters are coded for using the 3-letter word/4-letter alphabet Secret
Pseudo-Protein Code?
 There are 64 possible different coded characters.

2.a If you were to make up a new code using the same 4-letter alphabet, but only 2-letter words,
how many different characters could you code for? Show the code/s.
 There will only be 16 different characters.
UU UC UA UG
CU CC CA CG
AU AC AA AG
GU GC GA GG

2.b. Would the 2-letter word/4-letter alphabet code be sufficient to encode only the 26 capital
letters of the alphabet? Why?
 No, because 26 is greater than 16 does making it insufficient. Moreover, a typical codon needs a
three successive series of nucleotides on mRNA that correspond to a particular amino acid. So it
can be delivered during translation.

3. Proteins are made of only 20 different amino acids. Any one of the three stop codes will
end protein synthesis. The 3-letter word/4-letter alphabet code system has 43 extra codes. Would
a 2letter word/4 letter alphabet code system provides enough codes for protein synthesis? Show
why or why not.
 There are only 16 codes and as stated above proteins are made of 20 different amino acids and
we only have 16 codes so that isn’t possible. Also we need at least 21 codes (20 amino acids
and 1 stop) for protein synthesis.

4. The protein synthesis code is redundant. For example, UCA, UCC, UCG, and UCU all
code for the amino acid called serine, how could this redundancy reduce the number of errors
made at the ribosome during protein synthesis?
 The redundancy of protein synthesis code can be of use to prevent errors to surface, which can
be detrimental. Just like for instance, the UCG codes for the amino acid serine and if the G in
the third position where to be change by U (UCU), it will still code for serine. The sudden
change or changes by accident of a code will not affect the process or at least yield into
something that could ruin the byproduct.

You might also like