Question

What is degeneracy of genetic code?

Answer 1

Genetic code:

1. It is a three-letter combination of nitrogenous bases that codes for an amino acid.
2. It is also called a codon and is carried by the transfer RNA (tRNA) to the ribosome.
3. It is the substrate for protein synthesis in a cell.

Degeneracy of the genetic code:

1. Degeneracy means the coding of a particular amino acid by more than one codon.
2. Since numerous distinct codons define the same amino acid, the genetic code degenerates.
3. This allows for greater permutations and combinations to code for a particular amino acid.
4. Codons encoding the same amino acid frequently differ by only one nucleotide.