Qué es el código genético

What is the Genetic Code?

Understanding the Genetic Code

• The genetic code defines how a sequence of nucleic acids is transformed into a sequence of amino acids, serving as a universal rule for all organisms.

• Each group of three nucleotides (triplet) corresponds to one amino acid, leading to 64 possible combinations from four bases (A, T, C, G).

Codons and Amino Acids

• The transformation process involves converting DNA into RNA and reading it in triplets known as codons; each codon specifies an amino acid.

• While each codon uniquely identifies an amino acid, multiple codons can correspond to the same amino acid, indicating that the genetic code is both unambiguous and redundant.

Implications of Redundancy

• This redundancy allows for some errors during DNA replication without necessarily altering the resulting protein structure since changes may not affect the final amino acid produced.

Exceptions to the Universal Code

• Although generally universal, there are exceptions where certain triplets do not yield their expected amino acids.

Mitochondrial Genetic Code