Common proteins are polymers of 20 different amino acids. How many amino acids are necessary for...

Common proteins are polymers of 20 different amino acids. How many amino acids are necessary for a protein polymer to have at least as many possible different sequences as there are atoms in the Universe?

(There are about 2 × 1056 moles of atoms in the Universe.)

*Note - The answer is a mathmatical answer. I need an explanation of the math behind this problem.

Solutions

Expert Solution

According to the information, a total of 20 different amino acids are commonly found. Also, there are nearly 2*1056 moles of atoms in the Universe. Thus, we can have calculations as:

Number of atoms in Universe = 2*1056* Avogadro number

Number of amino acids required to have in total = 2*1056*Avogadro number/20 or 636.03*10²³ or 6.36* 10²⁵

Thus, this large number of amino acids in total would be present in this large polymer. However, studies have shown that the maximum possible combinations that could be made from 20 amino acids is given by 2020 i.e. 1.05*10²⁶.

Thus, these calculations show that the requisite number i.e. 6.36* 10²⁵is smaller than 1.05*10²⁶ and hence, these 20 amino acids are sufficient to make this large polymer as well.

This data and these sets of calculations suggest that our body contains all the biological information which is necessary to start life in the universe.

gladiator answered 1 year ago

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