Prior to the elucidation of the genetic code, prominent scientists, including Francis Crick, had predicted that each mRNA codon, coding for one of the 20 amino acids, needed to be at least three nucleotides long. Why is it not possible for codons to be any shorter?

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Biology

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14 May, 03:40

Prior to the elucidation of the genetic code, prominent scientists, including Francis Crick, had predicted that each mRNA codon, coding for one of the 20 amino acids, needed to be at least three nucleotides long. Why is it not possible for codons to be any shorter?

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Brett Yates · Answer 1

The genetic code may be defined as the triplet code of the nucleotides that codes for the particular amino acids. This genetic code is heritable in nature and mutation is these code can cause disease.

The codons cannot be shorter because the least three nucleotides only allows the combination of the 64 possible that contain 4 different nucleotides. These nucleotides are possible at the three different position within the codon.