Marshall Nirenberg, dead at 82
There is an excellent obituary in the New York Times on Marshall Nirenberg, one of the scientists who cracked the genetic code.
In short the genetic code is that DNA is transcribed into mRNA (m=messenger) and is read in codons, which are little chunks of three nucleotides long by complimentary anti-codons on tRNA (t=transfer) which are attached to amino acids. There are 64 codons which always correspond to the same amino acid, the building blocks of proteins. The obituary has a nice little summary of the experiment (or check out the wiki link above).
I remember being just awed and completely inspired by the experimental beauty of this when I was an undergrad. I still don't understand how people could not find that stuff fascinating.
In short the genetic code is that DNA is transcribed into mRNA (m=messenger) and is read in codons, which are little chunks of three nucleotides long by complimentary anti-codons on tRNA (t=transfer) which are attached to amino acids. There are 64 codons which always correspond to the same amino acid, the building blocks of proteins. The obituary has a nice little summary of the experiment (or check out the wiki link above).
I remember being just awed and completely inspired by the experimental beauty of this when I was an undergrad. I still don't understand how people could not find that stuff fascinating.
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