• Question: What is the genetic code?

    Asked by Ana María to Eoin, Ester, Ildiko, Natasha, Paul, Tom on 6 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Ester Gil Vazquez

      Ester Gil Vazquez answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      Good question! the genetic code are the rules that we use to read the DNA. It is the dictionary that allows us to understand what is written in our genes. It works differently than a normal dictionary and may be a little trickier: we represent genes with combinations of 4 letters (ATCG). For each 3 letters, we obtain an amino acid (there are 20 different ones) and a bunch of amino acids form a protein. This proteins are the workers of the cell – the ones doing all the tasks. In short, the genetic code allows our body to generate this workers (proteins) based in what is written in our DNA.

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