Life and

contribution of
an eminent
scientist
Reshma Remesh
Natural Science
Roll no:29

GENETICS AND THE LIFE

The beginning of Genetics as

a Science
Exactly 100 years back since 1968.
1866 - Gregor Mendel Discovers from very simple

experiments with peas that our inheritance is

packaged into many independent genes.
1868 - Friedrich Miescher (Father of genetics) -

isolated nucleic acid from cell nuclei.

1944 - Avery - Link established Genes contain

nucleic acids.
Nucleic acids - composed of nucleotide chains that

convey genetic information.

Genes Has a sequence of codons which in turn

specify the amino-acid sequence of the encoded

protein.

Genetic Code of
Life
What is Genetic Code?
Set of rules by which information

encoded in genetic material (DNA or

RNA sequences) is translated into
proteins (amino acid sequences) by
living cells.

Why is it called the code of Life?

These rules describes all our inherited

traits.
The genetic code is the dictionary that

translates the nucleic alphabets to

corresponding protein alphabets

Dr. H G Khorana

Hargobind Khorana
Born

: 9 January 1922, Raipur, Multan,

Punjab, British
India.
Residence : U.S.
Nationality : U.S.
Fields
: Molecular Biology
Institution : MIT
University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of British Columbia
University of Cambridge
Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology,
Zurich.

Educational Institution :

University of Liverpool

(PhD.)
University of Punjab
(B.S) (M.S)
Known for
the role of

: First to demonstrate
nucleotides in protein

synthesis.
Notable Awards
Medicine(1968)

: Nobel Prize in

Gairdner foundation
International Award, Albert Lasker Award for Basic
Medical Research, Padmavibhushan, Willard Gibbs
Award.

Khoranas Research
Approach
Matthaei and Nirenberg observed that poly U

tail coded for phenylalanine and discussed

this with Khorana after which they
corroborated together (1960)
Their experiments looked at the nucleic acid
found in RNA , a chemical in cells that
translates the genetic information contained
in DNA.
They showed that these chemical bases
combine to form three-letter words that
represent amino acids, the components from
which proteins are constructed.

Khoranas role was to design the method to

prepare ribonucleotide messengers of completely

defined nucleotide sequences.
Dr. Khorana used RNA transcribing enzyme for

the chemical synthesis of

deoxyribopolynucleotide.
This proved successful which combined the

leters into specific defined patterns,

(UCUCUCUCU) from which he deduced that UCU
encoded for serine and CUC encoded for leucine.

He and Dr. Nirenberg discovered UAG, UAA,

UGA which they concluded to be stop

codones.
His work unambiguously confirmed that the

genetic code consisted of 64 distinct threeletter words called CODONS which coded foe
20 amino acids.

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