"The general nature of the genetic code"

Date:: 1964

Reference:: PP/CRI/H/3/13

Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: "The general nature of the genetic code". Source: Wellcome Collection.

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GENERAL NATURE OP THE GENETIC CODE F.H.C. CRICK I have taken as my title The General Nature of the Genetic Code because we do not yet know the genetic code in detail, although we certainly hope to do so before very long. We believe that genes are made of nucleic acid. It need not concern us at this stage whether it is DNA or BNA, double- stranded or single-stranded. We also believe that one of the main functions of genes is to determine the amino acid sequence of proteins. There may be other functions but this function is certainly an important one. In addition» proteins have to take up their correct secondary and tertiary structure. I shall assume here without further discussion that the folding of a protein is mainly dictated by its primary structure. The genetic code, then, covers the problem of how the sequence of bases in a particular piece of nucleic acid deter mines the sequence of amino acids in a particular protein. There appear to be four common bases in nucleic acid: guanine, adenine, thymine (or uracil) and cytosine. It is true there are a few rarer ones, most of which can be described as having additional methyl or hydroxymethyl groups. We cannot be sure that they do not have some important function in the genetic code, but this is not very likely.

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