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NL888 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
" the genetic code is degenerate"? What does it mean?
You don't tell me that the genetic code of any one of us is always going down to a more disadvantageous level.
Context:
terious, and only a rare such event will provide a selective advantage and be retained during the evolutionary process. That is exactly what is observed. This latter phenomenon even applies to the fine details of the coding regions of genes. From the previous chapter, you may recall that the genetic code is degenerate: for example, GAA and GAG both code for glutamic acid. That means that it is possible for some mutations in the coding region to be "silent," where the encoded amino acid is not altered by the change, and so no penalty is paid. When comparing DNA sequences of related species, silent differences are much more common in the coding regions than those that alter an amino acid. That is exactly what Darwin's theory would pre-dict. If, as some might argue, these genomes were created by individual acts of special creation, why would this particular feature appear?
Context:
terious, and only a rare such event will provide a selective advantage and be retained during the evolutionary process. That is exactly what is observed. This latter phenomenon even applies to the fine details of the coding regions of genes. From the previous chapter, you may recall that the genetic code is degenerate: for example, GAA and GAG both code for glutamic acid. That means that it is possible for some mutations in the coding region to be "silent," where the encoded amino acid is not altered by the change, and so no penalty is paid. When comparing DNA sequences of related species, silent differences are much more common in the coding regions than those that alter an amino acid. That is exactly what Darwin's theory would pre-dict. If, as some might argue, these genomes were created by individual acts of special creation, why would this particular feature appear?
Top answer
From M-W, definition (5): 5: having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also : being such a codon this is, of course, not that helpful. It is terminology borrowed from mathematics: 2: being mathematically simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case <a degenerate hyperbola> Basically, it is specialized terminology. If more than one codon can code for an amino acid, it is degenerate because there is not a one-to-one correspondence between codons and amino acids.
- From M-W, definition (5): 5: having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also : being such a codon this is, of course, not that helpful.
- It is terminology borrowed from mathematics: 2: being mathematically simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case <a degenerate hyperbola> Basically, it is specialized terminology.
- If more than one codon can code for an amino acid, it is degenerate because there is not a one-to-one correspondence between codons and amino acids.
- com/dictionary/degenerate
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2 Answers
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From M-W, definition (5):
5: having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also : being such a codon
this is, of course, not that helpful. It is terminology borrowed from mathematics:
2: being mathematically simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case <a degenerate hyperbola>
5: having more than one codon representing an amino acid; also : being such a codon
this is, of course, not that helpful. It is terminology borrowed from mathematics:
2: being mathematically simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case <a degenerate hyperbola>
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It is a characteristic of the genetic code. Here is the main article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_code
Degeneracy
Degeneracy is the redundancy of the genetic code. The genetic code has redundancy but no ambiguity (see the codon tables above for the full correlation). F
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_code
Degeneracy
Degeneracy is the redundancy of the genetic code. The genetic code has redundancy but no ambiguity (see the codon tables above for the full correlation). F
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