Codon (IMAGE)
Caption
A codon, a sequence of three nucleotides in DNA and RNA that codes for a specific amino acid, acts like an “instruction manual” for protein synthesis, telling the cell which of the 20 natural amino acids to add to a growing protein chain — or, in the case of the three “stop” codons (known as TAG, TGA, and TAA), signaling the termination of protein synthesis. Yale scientists recoded a cell to have a single, non-degenerative TAA codon. The newly “free” TGA and TAG codons have been reassigned to encode nonstandard amino acids into synthetic proteins that possess new chemistries with innumerable applications.
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Yale University / Michael S. Helfenbein
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