Codon Reference Table

DNA My Name uses the standard genetic code — the same codon table used in molecular biology textbooks worldwide. Each amino acid is encoded by one or more three-nucleotide codons (triplets of A, T, G, C).

Amino Acids and Their Codons

20 standard amino acids are used. When multiple codons encode the same amino acid, DNA My Name uses a deterministic PRNG to choose between them — this is what shuffle changes. The non-letter fallback codon (for spaces, numbers, punctuation) is AAA (Lysine).

Code	Amino Acid	Codons	# Options
A	Alanine	GCT, GCC, GCA, GCG	4
C	Cysteine	TGT, TGC	2
D	Aspartic Acid	GAT, GAC	2
E	Glutamic Acid	GAA, GAG	2
F	Phenylalanine	TTT, TTC	2
G	Glycine	GGT, GGC, GGA, GGG	4
H	Histidine	CAT, CAC	2
I	Isoleucine	ATT, ATC, ATA	3
K	Lysine	AAA, AAG	2
L	Leucine	TTA, TTG, CTT, CTC, CTA, CTG	6
M	Methionine	ATG	1
N	Asparagine	AAT, AAC	2
P	Proline	CCT, CCC, CCA, CCG	4
Q	Glutamine	CAA, CAG	2
R	Arginine	CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, AGG	6
S	Serine	TCT, TCC, TCA, TCG, AGT, AGC	6
T	Threonine	ACT, ACC, ACA, ACG	4
V	Valine	GTT, GTC, GTA, GTG	4
W	Tryptophan	TGG	1
Y	Tyrosine	TAT, TAC	2

How to read a codon table

A codon is a three-letter DNA word made from A, T, G, and C. Each codon points to an amino acid, which is one building block of a protein. In this table, the one-letter code is the amino acid symbol used by DNA My Name, the full name is the biochemical name, and the codons column lists every DNA triplet that can encode that amino acid.

Codons

DNA codons are read in groups of three bases, such as GCT or ATG.

Amino acids

The 20 standard amino acids have one-letter codes like A for Alanine.

Degeneracy

Many amino acids have multiple codons, which is why Shuffle can change DNA but keep the same amino acid sequence.

Start and stop codons

In real biology, ATG usually acts as the start codon and encodes Methionine. Stop codons tell the cell where to end a protein, but DNA My Name does not use stop codons in name sequences because every letter needs to map to an amino acid-like symbol for the classroom model.

Codon	Role	Used by DNA My Name?
ATG	Start codon; Methionine	Yes, for M / Methionine
TAA, TAG, TGA	Stop codons	No

Letter Substitutions

Six letters of the English alphabet do not correspond to standard amino acid one-letter codes (B, J, O, U, X, Z). DNA My Name substitutes them with the nearest biochemically reasonable amino acid.

Letter	Substituted To	Amino Acid
B	D	Aspartic Acid
Z	E	Glutamic Acid
J	L	Leucine
U	C	Cysteine
O	K	Lysine
X	G	Glycine

Codon table FAQ

What is a codon table?

A codon table is a reference chart that shows which DNA or RNA triplets encode each amino acid. DNA My Name uses DNA codons, so it displays T where RNA charts often use U.

Why do some amino acids have more codons than others?

The genetic code is redundant. Several codons can point to the same amino acid, which can reduce the effect of some DNA changes and is called codon degeneracy.

Why are B, J, O, U, X, and Z substituted?

The standard amino acid alphabet has 20 one-letter codes, not 26. DNA My Name maps those six English letters to nearby amino acid codes so names remain readable.