What do sets of three nucleobases form?

What do sets of three nucleobases form?

• A. Triplet code
• B. Doublet code
• C. Mononucleotide
• D. Nucleotide

Answer: (A)

Three nucleotides in a row form a codon, the unit of the genetic code that specifies which amino acid should be added during protein synthesis. Because there are three bases per coding unit, the code is called a triplet code. This three-nucleotide arrangement lets the cell create enough distinct codons—64 possibilities—to map to all amino acids (plus start and stop signals). The other options don’t fit: a doublet code would require only two bases per unit, which isn’t how translation works; a mononucleotide is a single base, not a coding unit; and a nucleotide is the basic building block itself, not a three-base unit.

Three nucleotides in a row form a codon, the unit of the genetic code that specifies which amino acid should be added during protein synthesis. Because there are three bases per coding unit, the code is called a triplet code. This three-nucleotide arrangement lets the cell create enough distinct codons—64 possibilities—to map to all amino acids (plus start and stop signals). The other options don’t fit: a doublet code would require only two bases per unit, which isn’t how translation works; a mononucleotide is a single base, not a coding unit; and a nucleotide is the basic building block itself, not a three-base unit.