A codon codes for what?

A codon codes for what?

• A. A protein
• B. A nucleotide
• C. An amino acid
• D. A lipid

Answer: (C)

A codon is a three-nucleotide sequence in mRNA that tells the ribosome which amino acid to add next during protein synthesis. Because of the genetic code, each codon corresponds to a specific amino acid (or to a stop signal). So a codon codes for an amino acid. It doesn’t code for a whole protein, nor for a nucleotide or a lipid—those are different kinds of molecules. This is why the correct interpretation is that a codon specifies which amino acid to incorporate into the growing polypeptide.

A codon is a three-nucleotide sequence in mRNA that tells the ribosome which amino acid to add next during protein synthesis. Because of the genetic code, each codon corresponds to a specific amino acid (or to a stop signal). So a codon codes for an amino acid. It doesn’t code for a whole protein, nor for a nucleotide or a lipid—those are different kinds of molecules. This is why the correct interpretation is that a codon specifies which amino acid to incorporate into the growing polypeptide.