If the code does indeed have some logical foundation then it is legitimate to consider all the evidence, both good and bad, in any attempt to deduce it.

It seems likely that most if not all the genetic information in any organism is carried by nucleic acid - usually by DNA, although certain small viruses use RNA as their genetic material.

It is one of the more striking generalizations of biochemistry - which surprisingly is hardly ever mentioned in the biochemical textbooks - that the twenty amino acids and the four bases, are, with minor reservations, the same throughout Nature.

We are sometimes asked what the result would be if we put four +'s in one gene. To answer this my colleagues have recently put together not merely four but six +'s.

The balance of evidence both from the cell-free system and from the study of mutation, suggests that this does not occur at random, and that triplets coding the same amino acid may well be rather similar.

If, for example, all the codons are triplets, then in addition to the correct reading of the message, there are two incorrect readings which we shall obtain if we do not start the grouping into sets of three at the right place.

If poly A is added to poly U, to form a double or triple helix, the combination is inactive.

For simplicity one can think of the + class as having one extra base at some point or other in the genetic message and the - class as having one too few.

If the code does indeed have some logical foundation then it is legitimate to consider all the evidence, both good and bad, in any attempt to deduce it.

We've discovered the secret of life.

A final proof of our ideas can only be obtained by detailed studies on the alterations produced in the amino acid sequence of a protein by mutations of the type discussed here.

It now seems certain that the amino acid sequence of any protein is determined by the sequence of bases in some region of a particular nucleic acid molecule.

How is the base sequence, divided into codons? There is nothing in the backbone of the nucleic acid, which is perfectly regular, to show us how to group the bases into codons.

It would appear that the number of nonsense triplets is rather low, since we only occasionally come across them. However this conclusion is less secure than our other deductions about the general nature of the genetic code.

Moreover the incorporation requires the same components needed for protein synthesis, and is inhibited by the same inhibitors. Thus the system is most unlikely to be a complete artefact and is very probably closely related to genuine protein synthesis.

Attempts have been made from a study of the changes produced by mutation to obtain the relative order of the bases within various triplets, but my own view is that these are premature until there is more extensive and more reliable data on the composition of the triplets.

Do codons overlap? In other words, as we read along the genetic message do we find a base which is a member of two or more codons? It now seems fairly certain that codons do not overlap.

Unfortunately it makes the unambiguous determination of triplets by these methods much more difficult than would be the case if there were only one triplet for each amino acid.

It has yet to be shown by direct biochemical methods, as opposed to the indirect genetic evidence mentioned earlier, that the code is indeed a triplet code.

This seems highly likely, especially as it has been shown that in several systems mutations affecting the same amino acid are extremely near together on the genetic map.

It now seems very likely that many of the 64 triplets, possibly most of them, may code one amino acid or another, and that in general several distinct triplets may code one amino acid.

The meaning of this observation is unclear, but it raises the unfortunate possibility of ambiguous triplets; that is, triplets which may code more than one amino acid. However one would certainly expect such triplets to be in a minority.

A comparison between the triplets tentatively deduced by these methods with the changes in amino acid sequence produced by mutation shows a fair measure of agreement.

The job of theorists especially in biology is to suggest new experiments. A good theory makes not only predictions but surprising predictions that then turn out to be true.

The ultimate aim of the modern movement in biology is in fact to explain all biology in terms of physics and chemistry.

Even when I was a kid, I had a good thing with kids. To this day, if I go to a birthday party with one of my kids, I swear to you, I am so much happier hanging out with my kids and their friends than talking to the grown-ups.

I really do like to work. I will work again. But on my terms.

Smell is incredibly important and sensual; it communicates who you are.

One of the things that makes Hamlet unique among Shakespeare's characters is his courage to face up to the darker elements of his personality.

I've studied various schools of thought... I acknowledge that some Muslims consider music prohibited, but I've found a lot of evidence from the life of the Prophet to show that he allowed certainly, but even encouraged, music at certain times.

Default choices often remain unchanged for no reason other than being the default, either because of this lack of information or humans' status quo bias.

Those who have always had faith in its final success can do no less than rejoice as if it was our own triumph after five years of daily struggle to impose Cuban music on the European continent.

Language was a huge expansion of that capacity to deal with information.

I don't know what is better than the work that is given to the actor-to teach the human heart the knowledge of itself.

To race Formula three is very high risk and I am not going to take a chance. Thank god I am not doing it!

Our first phase was inviting all the women Ambassadors who were here from other countries and trying to get in touch with all the peace centers around the country in order to focus on increasing the volume and activity toward peace.

In day-to-day life, you have stimulus to behave unethically, but in the long term, it always pays off to be ethical.

The cancer that demands our urgent attention is corruption and poverty.

I spend a lot of time with my children. I like to go to the country with them, where we can spend hours walking in the woods and talking. That's more important to me than anything else.

I really wanted to pursue music, but all those other girls are doing it and it is annoying.

I can't work in an environment where it's a stiff hierarchy; that's not my kind of way.

Everyone has someone they looked up to. Mine was Mickey Mantle. For Alex Rodriguez to idolize me coming up, that makes me feel very good.

There was a sense that there was a lot of word of mouth happening with 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter,' even in hardcover.

Daydreaming allows you to play out scenarios where you miraculously save the day. You play out scenarios in your head that are kind of crazy and then you personally heroically resolve them.

We got a chance to go and play in some places that the usual European tour by an American band didn't go to.

Most of the great directors I've worked with - De Palma, Spike Lee - like rehearsals.

Having unlimited choices can paralyze you creatively.

Teaching to unsuspecting youngsters the effective use of formal methods is one of the joys of life because it is so extremely rewarding.

I am sure that in the story of Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit was a fig and not an apple, pear or anything else.