Question

The genetic code is said to be triplet, meaning that there ________.

1) are three amino acids per base in mRNA
2) are three bases in mRNA that code for an amino acid
3) may be three ways in which an amino acid may terminate a chain
4) are three "nonsense" triplets
5) None of the answers listed is correct.

Answer 1

The genetic code is defined as triplet because a set of 2) three bases in mRNA, called a codon, codes for a single amino acid during protein synthesis.

Step-by-step explanation:

The genetic code is said to be triplet, meaning that there are three bases in mRNA that code for an amino acid. This is represented in mRNA as a series of three-letter codes known as triplet codons. Each codon corresponds to one of the twenty common amino acids, which are used to synthesize proteins through a process known as translation. Notably, while there are 64 possible mRNA codons or triplet combinations of nucleotides (adenine, uracil, guanine, and cytosine), 61 codons specify amino acids and three are stop or nonsense codons used to terminate protein synthesis.