Question

this question has 2 parts.
when biologists say that the genetic code is
edundant,\ what do they mean?
○ every codon specifies exactly one amino acid or punctuation mark.
○ most proteins have many different amino acids in their primary sequence.
○ every amino acid has at least one codon.
○ some amino acids are coded for by more than one codon.
the genetic code is shown below.
first position (5 end)
second position
u
c
a
g
u
uuu
uuc
phe
uua
uug
leu
ucu
ucc
uca
ucg
ser
uau
uac
tyr
uaa
stop
uag
stop
ugu
ugc
uga
ugg
c
cuu
cuc
cua
cug
leu
ccu
ccc
cca
ccg
pro
cau
cac
his
caa
cag
gln
cgu
cgc
cga
cgg
a
auu
auc
aua
ile
aug
met
start
acu
acc
aca
acg
thr
aau
aac
asn
aaa
aag
lys
agu
agc
aga
agg

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "redundant" in the genetic code:

• Analyze each option:
• Option 1: Describes "unambiguous" nature, not redundancy.
• Option 2: Relates to protein composition, not genetic code redundancy.
• Option 3: States every amino acid has at least one codon (universality/coverage), not redundancy.
• Option 4: Redundancy means multiple codons can code for the same amino acid (e.g., Phe has UUU, UUC; Leu has UUA, UUG, CUU, CUC, CUA, CUG).

Answer:

D. Some amino acids are coded for by more than one codon.