On May 27, 1961, Heinrich Matthaei, a postdoc working with NIH scientist Marshal Nirenberg, placed synthetic polyuracil RNA into 20 test tubes to see what it would produce. Each tube contained ...

While most of us tend to carry the same general set of genes, within the billions of bases that make up the human genome, there is variation in the sequence from one person to another. Small ...

The genetic code is a set of rules defining how the four-letter code of DNA is translated into the 20-letter code of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. The genetic code is a set ...

Need a password for a new device or service? Try the genetic code. Messenger RNA triplets and the amino acids they specify provide nearly endless password possibilities. And it’s timely — the People’s ...

DNA consists of a code language comprising four letters which make up what are known as codons, or words, each three letters long. Interpreting the language of the genetic code was the work of ...

The genetic code is the recipe for life, and provides the instructions for how to make proteins, generally using just 20 ...

The same amino acid can be encoded by anywhere from one to six different strings of letters in the genetic code. Andrzej Wojcicki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Nearly all life, from bacteria ...

Most people do not yet understand the potential impact of our newfound ability to edit and eventually rewrite genetic code, the blueprint for life itself. At least, so say a number a number of experts ...

The genetics of a marine protozoan may overturn one of the long-held tenets of protein synthesis. According to conventional wisdom, the genetic code is unambiguous: each DNA triplet, or codon, ...

The DNA that is central to life on our own planet may not be a given in the rest of the universe. All cellular life on Earth is based on DNA, which transfers information—about everything from hair ...