Life as we know it depends on the genetic code: a set of codons, each made up of three bases in a dna sequence and corresponding mrna sequence, that specifies which of the 20 amino acids will be added to the protein during translation. imagine that a prokaryote-like organism has been discovered in the polar ice on mars. interestingly, these martian organisms use the same dna → rna → protein system as life on earth, except that there are only 2 bases (a and t) in the martian dna, and there are only 17 amino acids found in martian proteins. based on this information, what is the minimum size of a codon for these hypothetical martian life-forms?

5

Explanation:

2*2*2*2=16 not enough to code for the 17 aminoacids, 2*2*2*2*2=32 so it is more than enough  

The correct answer is "5".

Explanation:

The easiest way to determine the number of possible codons, is to establish a number with two digits "xy", where the digit "x" refers to the number of bases, and the number "y" to the number of bases per codon. Given that the Martian proteins are formed with only 17 amino acids, the number "xy" must be at least 17. In this case, the minimum size of a codon is 5, which will give the number "xy" 25 (greater than 17), and also will give enough combinations of codon to translate for the 17 amino acids (32, result of calculating 2 raised to the power of 5).

answer: a. a gene that causes a specific trait.