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Mathy-genes, condons, . . .

  1. Nov 25, 2006 #1
    This is a math question. really.

    So I have 6 codons.
    Now as we've all learned from highschool biology, codons are made up of 3 base pairs each.
    We've also learned that the genetic code is degenerative, that is, more than one combination of base pairs can mean one single codon.

    Leu has 4 different posisble combinations
    Asp has 2
    Phe has 2
    Ile has 3
    Pro has 4
    and Cys has 2

    The question is now, as you've probably guessed, to determine the number of possible ways to get Leu-Asp-Phe-Ile-Pro-Cys.

    I'd rather not draw it out. Is there a good equation I could use/way to go about this?
  2. jcsd
  3. Nov 25, 2006 #2
    If there are 4 ways to get to City Leu from where you are, and 2 ways from Leu to Asp City, how many ways are there to get to Asp? Think about multiplying the combinations.
  4. Nov 26, 2006 #3
    Thanks, that helped me visualize the problem!

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