genetic code

noun
1.
the biochemical instructions that translate the genetic information present as a linear sequence of nucleotide triplets in messenger RNA into the correct linear sequence of amino acids for the synthesis of a particular peptide chain or protein.
Compare codon, translation (def 9).
Origin
1960-65
Examples from the web for genetic code
  • The genetic code appears the best possible to act as a buffer for random genetic changes.
  • Horror, mystery and science-fiction books have spread their genetic code to a foreign habitat: the literature section.
  • Musk immediately said the quick and inexpensive tracking, decoding and writing of genetic code.
  • The real intellectual prize, though, was the genetic code itself.
  • The sequencing technology works by figuring out the precise sequence of letters that make up the genetic code of life.
  • Significantly altering a persons genetic code is not something parents of an altered human would normally chose.
  • We need to figure out the genetic code to better ourselves.
  • Now scientists may have cracked the genetic code behind the inherited ailments.
  • Then crack the genetic code and find out how the different parts, called nucleotides, fit together to compose it.
  • To reproduce, a virus binds to a host cell, which mistakes the virus for a protein and replicates its genetic code.
British Dictionary definitions for genetic code

genetic code

noun
1.
(biochem) the order in which the nitrogenous bases of DNA are arranged in the molecule, which determines the type and amount of protein synthesized in the cell. The four bases are arranged in groups of three in a specific order, each group acting as a unit (codon), which specifies a particular amino acid See also messenger RNA, transfer RNA
genetic code in Medicine

genetic code n.
The sequence of nucleotides that is the basis of heredity in the DNA molecule of a chromosome and that specifies the amino acid sequence in the synthesis of proteins.

genetic code in Science
genetic code
  (jə-nět'ĭk)   
The sequence of nucleotides in DNA and RNA that serve as instructions for synthesizing proteins. The genetic code is based on an "alphabet" consisting of sixty-four triplets of nucleotides called codons. The order in which codons are strung together determines the order in which the amino acids for which they code are arranged in a protein.
genetic code in Culture

genetic code definition


The code that translates the sequence of nucleotides in genes along the DNA strand into the structure of protein, which, through its action as an enzyme, governs one chemical reaction in the cell. A simple mnemonic is “One gene codes for one protein which runs one reaction.”

Note: All living things share the same genetic code, a fact that represents strong evidence for evolution. Unraveling the genetic code was one of the great scientific achievements of the twentieth century, and it opened the way to genetic engineering.