Page "Hershey–Chase experiment" Paragraph 19

Knowledge of the structure of DNA led scientists to examine the nature of genetic coding and, in turn, understand the process of protein synthesis.

George Gamow proposed that the genetic code was composed of sequences of three DNA base pairs known as triplets or codons which represent one of the twenty amino acids.

Genetic coding helped researchers to understand the mechanism of gene expression, the process by which information from a gene is used in protein synthesis.

Since then, many researches have been conducted to modulate steps in gene expression process.

These include transcription, RNA splicing, translation, and post-translational modification which are used to control the chemical and structural nature of proteins.

Moreover, genetic engineering gives engineers the ability to directly manipulate the genetic materials of organisms using recombinant DNA techniques.

The first recombinant DNA molecule was created by Paul Berg in 1972 when he combined DNA from the monkey virus SV40 with that of the lambda virus.