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A minimum of _____ tRNAs are required to translate all 61 codons.

User Xdhmoore
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Final answer:

A minimum of 32 tRNAs are required to translate all 61 codons.

Step-by-step explanation:

A minimum of 32 tRNAs are required to translate all 61 codons.

According to the genetic code, there are 20 amino acids that can be encoded by the mRNA codons. However, there are 64 possible codons formed by the combinations of A, U, G, and C nucleotides. Of these 64 codons, three are stop codons that specify termination of protein synthesis. This leaves 61 codons that specify the addition of amino acids to the polypeptide chain. Since each tRNA can base pair with one of the mRNA codons, a minimum of 32 tRNAs are required to recognize all the amino acid codons.

User Hayley
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