standard genetic code

Also known as canonical genetic code, genetic code, RNA codon table, genetic information

rules by which information encoded within genetic material is translated into proteins

AI overview

The standard genetic code is the set of rules that cells use to read the instructions in DNA and convert them into proteins, which do virtually all the work in living organisms. Understanding this code matters because it reveals how genetic information actually gets turned into the structures and functions that make life possible.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Research

2,426 papers

Natural and artificial variations of the standard genetic code.ReviewCurrent biology : CB · 2025Lukeš J, Eliáš M, Kachale A et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.09.071
Relational model of the standard genetic code.Bio Systems · 2021Konjevoda P, Štambuk NDOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104529
Evolution of the Standard Genetic Code.Journal of molecular evolution · 2021Yarus MDOI: 10.1007/s00239-020-09983-9
Standard Genetic Code vs. Supersymmetry Genetic Code - Alphabetical table vs. physicochemical table.Bio Systems · 2022Rosandić M, Paar VDOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104695
Some theoretical aspects of reprogramming the standard genetic code.Genetics · 2021Nowak K, Błażej P, Wnetrzak M et al.DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyab040
Evolution of the genetic code.ReviewTranscription · 2021Lei L, Burton ZFDOI: 10.1080/21541264.2021.1927652
The non-standard genetic code of Candida spp.: an evolving genetic code or a novel mechanism for adaptation?ReviewMolecular microbiology · 1997Santos MA, Ueda T, Watanabe K et al.DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1997.5891961.x
Little Evidence the Standard Genetic Code Is Optimized for Resource Conservation.Molecular biology and evolution · 2021Rozhoňová H, Payne JLDOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab236

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Wikidata facts

Image: GeneticCode21-version-2.svg

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Commons category: Genetic code
P13411: laziness
equivalent class: edamontology.org/data_1598

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Article

A series of codons in part of a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule. Each codon consists of three nucleotides, usually corresponding to a single amino acid. The nucleotides are abbreviated with the letters A, U, G and C. This is mRNA, which uses U (uracil). DNA uses T (thymine) instead. This mRNA molecule will instruct a ribosome to synthesize a protein according to this code. Genetic code is a set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links proteinogenic amino acids in an order specified by messenger RNA (mRNA), using transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules to carry amino acids and to read the mRNA three nucleotides at a time. The genetic code is highly similar among all organisms and can be expressed in a simple table with 64 entries.

The codons specify which amino acid will be added next during protein biosynthesis. With some exceptions, a three-nucleotide codon in a nucleic acid sequence specifies a single amino acid. The vast majority of genes are encoded with a single scheme (see the RNA codon table). That scheme is often called the canonical or standard genetic code, or simply the genetic code, though variant codes (such as in mitochondria) exist.