Question

Synthetic biologists at the Scripps Institute expanded the genetic repertoire by adding two new bases into living bacterial cells. The two bases are named d5SICS and dNaM, and they base-pair with one another. How many different codons are possible in nucleic acids containing six different nucleotides if a codon consists of a consecutive sequence of three nucleotides

Answer 1

With the addition of two synthetic bases to the standard four in DNA, creating a six nucleotide system, the number of possible codons (three-nucleotide sequences) increases to 216.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to the concept of the genetic code and how additional bases introduced into a nucleic acid sequence affect the number of potential codons. Specifically, the query is about the number of unique codons that can be formed with six different nucleotides, where a codon consists of three nucleotides. In standard DNA and RNA, which have four different nucleotides (A, T/U, G, C), there are 64 possible codons (4³ combinations). With the addition of two synthetic bases, d5SICS and dNaM, the number of nucleotides increases to six, and the possible codons increase exponentially.

To calculate the number of different codons with six nucleotides, we would use the formula 6³, which is equivalent to 6 x 6 x 6. This calculation gives us a total of 216 codons.

Answer 2

216 codons

Step-by-step explanation:

In the RNA molecule there are four types of nucleotide bases, i.e., Adenine, Uracil (Thymine in DNA), Guanine, and Cytosine. In consequence, the number of possible codons or combinations of nucleotide triplets is 64 (4³ = 64 codons). However, these 64 codons code for only 20 different amino acids because multiple codons can code for the same amino acid, it is for that reason that the genetic code is redundant. In this case, if the number of bases would be six (6) instead of four (4) bases, then the number of possible combinations of nucleotide triplets would be 216 codons (6³ = 216).