So, how many codes per peptide?
If there are 2.19 × 1099 distinct 165-nucleotide sequences, but only 9.00 × 1068 distinct 53-amino-acid peptides, how many ways (on average) can each peptide be coded?
(To make this problem interactive, turn on javascript!)
- I need a hint ... : you want codes per peptide, so divide the number of nucleotide
sequences by the number of peptides.
- ...another hint ... : 2.19 × 1099 / 9.00 × 1068 = ?
- ...another hint ... : divide the numbers, subtract the zeros.
I think I have the answer: 0.22 × 1031 , a.k.a. 2.2 × 1030.
Wow! 2.2 × 1030 is 2 million trillion trillion. That's the number of ways (on average) that any given 53-AA protein could be coded. Ten million times more than the number of atoms in a mol. Once again, if your mind isn't boggled, better get it checked out.
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