Ribonucleotide composition of the genetic code

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Abstract

Randomly-mixed polynucleotides were found to direct the incorporation of different amino acids into protein. Using this technique the ribonucleotide composition of the RNA code corresponding to fifteen amino acids was determined. A minimum coding ratio of three nucleotides per amino acid was demonstrated. Two coding units corresponding to leucine were found; thus a part of the code was shown to be degenerate.

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