Question

explain in a detailed paragraph please  - What is meant by the genetic code being universal and redundant?

Answer 1

Ans)

Nucleotides when chained up together form molecules known as DNA or RNA which carry information of generation of species and through the cells of an organism. The information is contained in special sequences of nucleotides to direct its development. It is the same among plants, animals, bacteria and fungi and is hence called universal. In other words, a genetic code shared by diverse organisms provides evidence dor yhe common origin of life on earth. Now, as far as redundency is concerned, although each codon is apecific for only one amino acid the genetic code is described as degenerate or redundant because a single amino acid may be coded for more than one codon. Redundancy in genetic is important because when a mutation changes a codon, it begins to code for a wrong amino acid, the proteins made for that gene may loose their function. However, redundency of the genetic code reduces the chance that mutation in the DNA will change the amino acid it codea for.