DNA copies the Genome using the four base pairs A, C, G, and T. These combine together in sets or pairs and each combination ‘calls’ for a different 3 letter code (or codon) which corresponds to one of the twenty different amino acid letters used in all life. These twenty different amino acids are only manufactured by living organisms to be used within living organisms– no amino acids used by life come from outside life.
Not a single amino acid came from or was ever produced by the famous Miller-Urey experiment, imagined primordial waters, meteors, comets, ice crystals, bubbles, liquids or solids of any kind. Not one comes from outside of life itself.
These amino acids are assembled into a chain inside the living cell to ultimately become flesh we call protein. It is reasonable to think of DNA base pairs as ‘the code’ (quaternary code of 4 letters: A,C,G, & T) which are the recipe used to assemble ‘the letters’ into protein chains to later be folded into protein emerged from nature or naturalistic processes.
The Twenty “letter” Amino Acids
The twenty amino acids each have assigned to them both three-letter (can be upper or lower case) and one-letter codes (upper case). This makes it quicker and easier for notation purposes and are worth learning.
The format of the list is: amino acid name – 3 letter code – 1 letter code
alanine – ala – A
arginine – arg – R
asparagine – asn – N
aspartic acid – asp – D
cysteine – cys – C
glutamine – gln – Q
glutamic acid – glu – E
glycine – gly – G
histidine – his – H
isoleucine – ile – I
leucine – leu – L
lysine – lys – K
methionine – met – M
phenylalanine – phe – F
proline – pro – P
serine – ser – S
threonine – thr – T
tryptophan – trp – W
tyrosine – tyr – Y
valine – val – V
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/education/AminoAcid/the_twenty.html
