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True or false? The genetic code is considered to be universal, present in all organisms.

User Hui Wang
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Final answer:

The genetic code is true to be universal, supporting the idea that all life on Earth shares a common ancestry. With minimal exceptions, this code is used for protein synthesis across different species, demonstrating a close evolutionary relationship and the conservation of codons.

Step-by-step explanation:

True, the genetic code is considered to be universal, present in all organisms with a few exceptions. Virtually all species use the same genetic code for protein synthesis, which is powerful evidence of a common origin. For example, an mRNA encoding for a protein in horses could potentially be introduced into a tulip cell, leading the tulip to produce horse protein. This demonstrates the incredible conservation of codons across different life forms.

The genetic code's universality demonstrates that all life shares a common evolutionary history. It is mostly unambiguous, meaning that each codon signifies a single amino acid, with the exceptions of methionine and tryptophan, where each is coded by only one codon. The nature of the genetic code with its near-universality and the fact that it is unambiguous provides a compelling argument for the common descent of all organisms.

User Guillaume Michel
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