Codon Health Dictionary

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Codon: From 1 Different Sources

n. the unit of the *genetic code that determines the synthesis of one particular amino acid. Each codon consists of a section of the DNA molecule, and the order of the codons along the molecule determines the order of amino acids in each protein made in the cell.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Rna

RNA is the abbreviation for ribonucleic acid, one of the two types of NUCLEIC ACID that exist in nature. It is present in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of the CELLS of the body, but principally in the former. With DNA it is an essential component of the genetic code. It exists in three categories known, respectively, as ribosomal (r), transfer (t), and messenger (m) RNA. Genetic information resides in the linear sequence of nucleotides (see NUCLEIC ACID) in DNA and is transcribed into messenger RNA before protein is synthesised. In the language of the computer, the genetic code consists of 64 three-letter code-words, or codons. The code in DNA is comparable to a tape which contains information written linearly in the form of these codons, each of which is the code for one of the 20 AMINO ACIDS from which proteins are made. The genetic information encoded in DNA is used to programme the manufacture of proteins (see PROTEIN) in two stages.

In the ?rst, the information is transcribed from DNA on to a molecule of mRNA. In the second, the messenger RNA-intermediary transports the information to the protein-manufacturing centres of the cell where the information is translated from the linear sequence of codons in the RNA into a linear sequence of amino acids which are concurrently converted into protein. (See also GENES.)... rna

Genetic Code

the code in which genetic information is carried by *DNA and *messenger RNA. This information determines the sequence of amino acids in every protein and thereby controls the nature of all proteins made by the cell. The genetic code is expressed by the sequence of *nucleotide bases in the nucleic acid molecule, a unit of three consecutive bases (a codon) coding for each amino acid. The code is translated into protein at the ribosomes (see transcription; translation). Any changes in the genetic code result in the insertion of incorrect amino acids in a protein chain, giving a *mutation.... genetic code

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