Proteinogenic amino acid

High school (ages 12+)
Human Body

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/proteinogenic-amino-acid

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the number of genetically encoded amino acids?22 proteinogenic amino acids are known throughout life
2. What is the standard genetic code amino acids?20 amino acids are incorporated via the standard genetic code
3. What are proteinogenic amino acids?They are tiny building blocks that make proteins, the workhorses of our bodies. There are 22 of them that are encoded by genes.
4. How many proteinogenic amino acids are there in life?Life uses 22 proteinogenic amino acids. 20 are standard and two extra ones are selenocysteine and pyrrolysine.

Proteinogenic: Amino acids that are biosynthetically incorporated into proteins during translation.
Translation: The biological process where genetic information encoded in mRNA is used to synthesize proteins.
SECIS Element: A specific RNA structure that directs the incorporation of selenocysteine.
Codon: A sequence of three nucleotides in DNA or RNA that specifies a particular amino acid or stop signal.