Question

How is the relationship between the Genetic Code and a Codon analogous to the letters of the alphabet and words?

a. The genetic code consists of four letters. Three letters of the code form a word or anticodon that specifies an amino acid.
b. The genetic code consists of four letters. Four letters of the code form a word or codon that specifies an amino acid.
c. The genetic code consists of three letters. Three letters of the code form a word or anticodon that specifies an polypeptide.
d. The genetic code consists of four letters. Three letters of the code form a word or Codon that specifies an amino acid.

Answer 1

In the genetic code, the four letters (A, C, G, U/T) combine in groups of three to form codons, each of which specifies a single amino acid, analogous to how letters form words.

Step-by-step explanation:

The analogy between the genetic code and a codon to the letters of the alphabet and words helps us understand how genetic information is translated into proteins. In the genetic code, the four letters (A, C, G, U/T) combine in groups of three to form codons, each of which specifies a single amino acid, analogous to how letters form words.

Just as letters are arranged into words, the four nitrogenous bases — adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U) in RNA; thymine (T) is used in DNA instead of uracil — are combined in groups of three to form three-letter words, or codons. Each codon corresponds to a single amino acid, the building blocks of proteins.

Thus, the correct analogy corresponding to the relationship between the genetic code and a codon is: