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Stop Codon
A stop codon is a sequence of three nucleotides (a trinucleotide) in DNA or messenger RNA (mRNA) that signals a halt to protein synthesis in the cell. There are 64 different trinucleotide codons: 61 specify amino acids and 3 are stop codons (i.e., UAA, UAG and UGA).
Stop codon. A stop codon is to protein synthesis what a period is to a sentence. Since a protein isn't infinitely long, biology created an incredibly clever way to say, “Stop! You've reached the end of this protein.”
Prabarna Ganguly, Ph.D.
Chief Communications Officer
Amino Acids Codon Nonsense Mutation Messenger RNA (mRNA) Gene Environment Interaction Genetic Code Protein Translation Gene