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DNA Codon Alphabet

The document explains how DNA contains genetic information to make proteins through combinations of four chemical bases (A, T, C, G) arranged in groups of three called codons. Each codon corresponds to an amino acid, and the sequence of codons spells out the DNA alias or genetic code for a protein. As an example, the reader is asked to write their name and then convert each letter to its corresponding codon sequence to find the "DNA sequence" version of their name.

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Omar Elhosary
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74 views2 pages

DNA Codon Alphabet

The document explains how DNA contains genetic information to make proteins through combinations of four chemical bases (A, T, C, G) arranged in groups of three called codons. Each codon corresponds to an amino acid, and the sequence of codons spells out the DNA alias or genetic code for a protein. As an example, the reader is asked to write their name and then convert each letter to its corresponding codon sequence to find the "DNA sequence" version of their name.

Uploaded by

Omar Elhosary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DNA Detectives

What is your DNA Alias? 1


We use four letters to code all the information contained in DNA: A, T, C and G. The letters are used in
groups of three. A group is called a codon.

DNA contains the information that is needed by your body to make proteins. The different proteins have
specific functions, such as making our hearts, hair, eyes and ears. The smallest part of proteins are amino
acids. There are 20 amino acids. One or more can make up a protein, depending on the specific protein.

Each amino acid is represented by at least one codon. Because each codon is coded with three letters, the
string of letters used to represent the amino acids in a specific protein can get pretty long. To avoid this,
scientists have made a kind of shorthand, and have given each amino acid its own letter, corresponding to
our alphabet.

Using this shorthand to represent the amino acids in a protein is a way of describing, or “spelling” this
part of the protein. Written in this shorthand, the code is called the DNA Alias; each letter in the DNA Alias
actually represents a group of three letters (a codon).

When scientists see the DNA Alias of a particular protein, they can find the protein’s DNA sequence by
reversing the coding process. For fun, we can perform the same process on any word by converting each
letter to the corresponding codon, and in so doing, find its “DNA sequence”. Let’s try it with your name.

Write each letter of your name on the lines below:

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

Use the table on page 2 to help you convert your name into its DNA Alias.
Step 1: Find each letter of your name.
Step 2: Look at the Codon column to find the DNA code for each letter.
Step 3: Replace each letter of your name with its three-letter codon:

___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___

___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___

___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___ ___,___,___

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DNA Detectives
What is your DNA Alias? 2
Our Alphabet Amino Acid Name Simplified Codon
A Alanine GCT
B GCA (Alanine)
C Cysteine TGC
D Aspartic acid GAT
E Glutamic acid GAG
F Phenylalanine TTT
G Glycine GGG
H Histidine CAT
I Isoleucine ATA
J ATC (Isoleucine)
K Lysine AAG
L Leucine CTC
M Methionine ATG
N Asparagine GAC
O GAT (Asparagine)
P Proline CCC
Q Glutamine GAG
R Arginine CGT
S Serine TCA
T Threonine ACT
U ACG (Threonine)
V Valine GTC
W Tryptophan TGG
X GTA (Valine)
Y Tyrosine TAC
Z TAT (Tyrosine)

(The table shows simplified versions of the codons.


Most amino acids are actually represented by multiple codons).

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