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A synthetic mRNA molecule uses only two types of nucleotides, adenine and cytosine. How many different codons could it contain?

Correct answer: C. 8

  • A. 4
  • B. 16
  • C. 8
  • D. 64

Explanation

We know that In the genetic code, each codon is made up of three nucleotides. Since the synthetic mRNA molecule you mentioned contains only two types of nucleotides (adenine and cytosine), there are only two possibilities for each position within the codon. Therefore, the number of different codons it could contain is calculated by raising 2 to the power of 3 (since there are three positions in a codon): 2^3 = 8 So, the synthetic mRNA molecule could contain a total of 8 different codons using only adenine and cytosine.

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