Genetic code: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:01, 30 June 2025

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==History==

[[File:GeneticCode21-version-2.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|The genetic code]]{{Further|Adaptor hypothesis}}

Efforts to understand how proteins are encoded began after [[Nucleic acid double helix|DNA's structure]] was discovered in 1953. The key discoverers, English biophysicist [[Francis Crick]] and American biologist [[James Watson]], working together at the [[Cavendish Laboratory]] of the University of Cambridge, hypothesied that information flows from DNA and that there is a link between DNA and proteins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=J. D. |last2=Crick |first2=F. H. |date=1953-05-30 |title=Genetical implications of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13063483 |journal=Nature |volume=171 |issue=4361 |pages=964–967 |doi=10.1038/171964b0 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=13063483 |bibcode=1953Natur.171..964W |s2cid=4256010}}</ref> Soviet-American physicist [[George Gamow]] was the first to give a workable scheme for protein synthesis from DNA.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Stegmann |first=Ulrich E. |date=2016-09-01 |title='Genetic Coding' Reconsidered: An Analysis of Actual Usage |journal=The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science |language=en |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=707–730 |doi=10.1093/bjps/axv007 |issn=0007-0882 |pmc=4990703 |pmid=27924115}}</ref> He postulated that sets of three bases (triplets) must be employed to encode the 20 standard amino acids used by living cells to build proteins, which would allow a maximum of {{nowrap|4{{smallsup|3}} {{=}} 64}} tripletsamino acids (all permutations of the four bases, read three at a time).<ref name="isbn0-465-09138-5">{{cite book|first=Francis|last=Crick|title=What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery|authorlink=Francis Crick|chapter-url={{google books|plainurl=y |id=awoXBQAAQBAJ|page=89}}|date=10 July 1990|publisher=Basic Books|oclc=1020240407|pages=89–101|isbn=9780465091386|chapter=Chapter 8: The Genetic Code}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He named this DNA–protein interaction (the original genetic code) as the "diamond code".<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Hayes |first=Brian |date=1998 |title=Computing Science: The Invention of the Genetic Code |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27856930 |journal=American Scientist |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=8–14 |doi=10.1511/1998.17.3338 |jstor=27856930 |s2cid=121907709 |issn=0003-0996|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1954, Gamow created an informal scientific organisation the [[RNA Tie Club]], as suggested by Watson, for scientists of different persuasions who were interested in how [[Translation (biology)|proteins were synthesised]] from genes. However, the club could have only 20 permanent members to represent each of the 20 amino acids; and four additional honorary members to represent the four nucleotides of DNA.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Strauss |first=Bernard S |date=2019-03-01 |title=Martynas Yčas: The "Archivist" of the RNA Tie Club |url=https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.118.301754 |journal=Genetics |volume=211 |issue=3 |pages=789–795 |doi=10.1534/genetics.118.301754 |issn=1943-2631 |pmc=6404253 |pmid=30846543}}</ref>