Amino acids Quote by Francis Crick
““It is one of the striking generalizations of biochemistry—which surprisingly is hardly ever mentioned in the biochemical text-books—that the twenty amino acids and the four bases, are, with minor reservations, the same throughout Nature. As far as I am aware the presently accepted set of twenty amino acids was first drawn up by Watson and myself in the summer of 1953 in response to a letter of Gamow 's.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: 1955 Lecture on Genetic Code, Francis Crick, 1955
The twenty amino acids and four DNA bases are nearly universal across all living organisms, a fact rarely highlighted in textbooks.
In simple terms: Amino acids and DNA bases are almost the same everywhere.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the deep chemical unity of life.
Themes
biology
chemistry
evolution
universality
Mood
curious
inquisitive
Type
scientific
informative
When to use this quote
- research labs
- education
- comparative genomics
- biotech development
Key Concepts
genetic code
molecular biology
conservation
Questions to Reflect On
- How does this universality impact drug design?
- What does it suggest about the origin of life?
A Different Perspective
Assumes no unknown exceptions; rare extremophiles may differ.
![“I also suspect that many workers in this field [molecular biology] and related fields have been strongly motivated by the desire, rarely actually expressed, to refute vitalism.” quote by Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/81f/francis-crick-8439_biology_i-also-suspect-that-many-workers-in-this_502423.jpg)
