Question

According to George Gamow's proposal from 1954, why is the genetic code a triplet code?

Options

• Proteins contain only three types of amino acids

• A triplet code produces 64 codons, which is enough to code for 20 amino acids

• Three bases are needed to stabilize the DNA helix

• Ribosomes can only process three nucleotides at a time

Answer 1

A triplet code consists of three consecutive nitrogenous bases forming one codon. This produces \[4^3 = 64\] possible combinations, which is more than sufficient to code for the approximately 20 amino acids found in proteins. This mathematical reasoning provided the basis for Gamow's hypothesis.