What is the difference between codon and gene

Genetic code refers to the biochemical instructions by which genetic material stores the genetic information. It consists of 64 codons. Codons are nucleotide triplets, which represent specific amino acids. All codons except three are encoded for amino acids. Most amino acids are encoded by several codons. That means the genetic code is degenerate. But, each codon in the genetic code represents only one amino acid.

Therefore, the genetic code is unambiguous. It also serves as the start codon. Generally, genes store the information of proteins.

RNA consists of uracil U instead of thymine. The genetic code with RNA codons is shown in figure 1. The genetic code is identical in all species. However, a slightly different genetic code is found in mitochondrial DNA.

All proteins are made up of 20 amino acids. Since there are 64 codons in the genetic code, each amino acid is represented by several codons. Related Concepts You have authorized LearnCasting of your reading list in Scitable. Do you want to LearnCast this session? This article has been posted to your Facebook page via Scitable LearnCast. Change LearnCast Settings. Hence, each amino acid can be coded by more than one codon. A codon contains a unique order of three bases. Therefore, codons can be easily identified and the amino acids they result in can be determined.

By analyzing the codon sequence, it is easy to construct the amino acid sequence of the protein. Codons are read into amino acids by the ribosomes of the cells. The genetic code is the correct order of bases in a particular DNA sequence which is responsible for the production of the amino acid sequence of a protein.

A codon is a base triplet which specifies a particular amino acid of a protein. There are 64 possible codons by the four bases in the nucleic acids. Codon sequence gives the correct amino acid sequence.

Therefore the genetic code is also can be known as a collection of codons. This is the difference between genetic code and codon. References: 1. Koonin, Eugene V. National Library of Medicine, Feb. Lobanov, Alexey V. Turanov, Dolph L. Hatfield, and Vadim N. National Library of Medicine, Aug. Image Courtesy: 1. Samanthi Udayangani holds a B.