Question

A protein is discovered that is responsible for retaining youthful elasticity in the skin. A biotechnology company wants to find the gene for the protein in order to produce the protein commercially and market it. The protein was discovered to be 90,000 amino acids long. How long is the gene they are looking for?

Answer 1

The correct answer would be 2,70,000 nucleotide long gene.

The gene refers to the protein coding sequence of the (deoxyribonucleic acid) DNA.

The nucleotide sequence of a gene corresponds to the codon sequence if mRNA. The codon sequence of mRNA then codes for the amino acid sequence of the protein.

The codon refers to the set of three nucleotide which codes for a specific amino acid. For example, CAG codes for glutamine, AUG codes for methionine et cetera.

So, if the polypeptide chain consists of 90,000 amino acids then it must contain 90,000 x 3 nucleotides which are equal to 2,70,000 nucleotides.