Crack open a biology textbook and you will find a standard icon of molecular biology: the table summarizing the standard genetic code. This refers to the set of rules by which the cell "decodes" the ...

The genetic code is a set of rules defining how the four-letter code of DNA is translated into the 20-letter code of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. The genetic code is a set ...

On May 27, 1961, Heinrich Matthaei, a postdoc working with NIH scientist Marshal Nirenberg, placed synthetic polyuracil RNA into 20 test tubes to see what it would produce. Each tube contained ...

The same amino acid can be encoded by anywhere from one to six different strings of letters in the genetic code. Andrzej Wojcicki/Science Photo Library via Getty Images Nearly all life, from bacteria ...

An international team led by Monash University researchers has uncovered the genetic code governing the way genetic mutations ...

The DNA that is central to life on our own planet may not be a given in the rest of the universe. All cellular life on Earth is based on DNA, which transfers information—about everything from hair ...