--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Part of the problem was that no one knew…" description: "\"“Part of the problem was that no one knew exactly how a cell took a nucleic acid sequence and turned it into a blob of protein made up of amino acids.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg" --- # Part of the problem was that no one knew exactly how a… ![“Part of the problem was that no one knew exactly how a cell took a nucleic acid sequence and turned it into a blob of protein made up of amino acids.” quote by Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg) > ““Part of the problem was that no one knew exactly how a cell took a nucleic acid sequence and turned it into a blob of protein made up of amino acids.”” [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes the challenge of translating DNA sequences into functional proteins. **In simple terms:** DNA to protein conversion is complex Key Takeaway Explore the mechanisms of gene expression. Themes biology genetics molecular science Mood inquisitive analytical Type educational explanatory When to use this quote - lab research - education - science communication - policy making Key Concepts translation protein synthesis information flow Questions to Reflect On - How do cells ensure accuracy? - What are the implications for synthetic biology? A Different Perspective Understanding remains incomplete despite advances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amino acids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amino-acids/) [Blob Protein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blob-protein-5249980/) [Cell Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cell-took-5249981/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Nucleic Acid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nucleic-acid-2122161/) [Took Nucleic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/took-nucleic-5249979/) ## Related quotes > [All life is nucleic acid; the rest is commentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/all-life-is-nucleic-acid-the-rest-is-commentary/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“We humans look rather different from a tree. Without a doubt we perceive the world differently than a tree does. But down deep, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-humans-look-rather-different-from-a-tree-without-a-doubt-we-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Even before the exact answer was reached, Crick crystallized its fundamental principles in a statement that he called (and is called to this day)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/even-before-the-exact-answer-was-reached-crick-crystallized-its/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [The results suggest a helical structure which must be very closely packed containing probably 2, 3 or 4 coaxial nucleic acid chains per helical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-franklin/the-results-suggest-a-helical-structure-which-must-be-very-closely/) [Rosalind Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-franklin/) > [We wish to discuss a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid. D.N.A. This structure has novel features which are of considerable biologic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-franklin/we-wish-to-discuss-a-structure-for-the-salt-of-deoxyribose-nucleic/) [Rosalind Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-franklin/) > [It seems likely that most if not all the genetic information in any organism is carried by nucleic acid - usually by DNA, although…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-crick/it-seems-likely-that-most-if-not-all-the-genetic-information-in-any/) [Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-crick/) > [When I was 16, my dad took me to a DNA conference at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco, California, and I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rubins/when-i-was-16-my-dad-took-me-to-a-dna-conference-at-the-exploratorium/) [Kathleen Rubins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rubins/) > [You see, proteins, as I probably needn't tell you, are immensely complicated groupings of amino acids and certain other specialized compounds, arranged in intricate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-see-proteins-as-i-probably-needn-t-tell-you-are-immensely/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“The clothes you're wearing, the room, the house, the city that you're in. Everything in it started out in the human imagination. Your lives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/the-clothes-you-re-wearing-the-room-the-house-the-city-that-you-re-in/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-crick/it-is-one-of-the-striking-generalizations-of-biochemistry-which/) [Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-crick/) > [“Did you know that the term 'essential amino acids' is somewhat of a misnomer?! If they were that essential, wouldn't the body finding a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-hiwale/did-you-know-that-the-term-essential-amino-acids-is-somewhat-of-a/) [Deepak Hiwale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-hiwale/) > [But all the vitamins, amino acids, protein etc. needed to get stronger can be found in abundance in plant foods. Anything that is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cheeke/but-all-the-vitamins-amino-acids-protein-etc-needed-to-get-stronger/) [Robert Cheeke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cheeke/) > [People crave laughter as if it were an essential amino acid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patch-adams/people-crave-laughter-as-if-it-were-an-essential-amino-acid/) [Patch Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patch-adams/) > [I go to a poison registry and I find that no one has died from any overdose of any vitamins, herbs, or amino acids...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-null/i-go-to-a-poison-registry-and-i-find-that-no-one-has-died-from-any/) [Gary Null](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-null/) > [“The regular consumption of amino acids improved my health.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-regular-consumption-of-amino-acids-improved-my-health/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) ## More by Matthew Cobb > [“the transforming principle could not be made of DNA because nucleic acids were all alike. As”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/the-transforming-principle-could-not-be-made-of-dna-because-nucleic/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“DNA composition was constant in all tissues of a given species, but each species had its own profile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/dna-composition-was-constant-in-all-tissues-of-a-given-species-but/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“The genetic code is a product of biology and is messy, illogical and inelegant. It is highly redundant, but to bewilderingly varied degrees: one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/the-genetic-code-is-a-product-of-biology-and-is-messy-illogical-and/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“Wiener and Rosenblueth showed that purposeful, goal-directed behaviour can be seen in organisms and machines, and that it operates through what is known as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/wiener-and-rosenblueth-showed-that-purposeful-goal-directed-behaviour/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“As Jacob put it in 1977, natural selection does not design, it tinkers with what is available.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/as-jacob-put-it-in-1977-natural-selection-does-not-design-it-tinkers/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“Genes were no longer mysterious embodiments of specificity, they were information – a code – that could be transmitted (another word from the electronic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/genes-were-no-longer-mysterious-embodiments-of-specificity-they-were/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“In fact they are historical, carrying the baggage of their evolutionary past, and have not been designed at all. They are often far from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/in-fact-they-are-historical-carrying-the-baggage-of-their/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“In the discussion, Gulland was asked about the possibility that a DNA molecule might be a helix, held together by the presence of evenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/in-the-discussion-gulland-was-asked-about-the-possibility-that-a-dna/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“By the end of the 1940s, support for the hypothesis that DNA had a fundamental role in heredity had grown much stronger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/by-the-end-of-the-1940s-support-for-the-hypothesis-that-dna-had-a/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“In typically generous fashion, Crick was offering Nirenberg the opportunity to step into history as the man who had cracked the genetic code.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/in-typically-generous-fashion-crick-was-offering-nirenberg-the/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“Every result converged on the same conclusion: the transforming principle was composed of DNA. The discussion section of the article outlined the genetic context…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/every-result-converged-on-the-same-conclusion-the-transforming/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“Avery had described one of the most momentous discoveries in the history of science, and no one could think of anything to say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/avery-had-described-one-of-the-most-momentous-discoveries-in-the/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“By the end of the 1940s, it was widely known that the levels of protein in the transforming principle were effectively zero.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/by-the-end-of-the-1940s-it-was-widely-known-that-the-levels-of/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) > [“If the adaptor hypothesis were true (and it was), this meant that the role of DNA and RNA would be reduced to simply carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/if-the-adaptor-hypothesis-were-true-and-it-was-this-meant-that-the/) [Matthew Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) [Explore all 15 Matthew Cobb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/) ## More Amino acids quotes > [“The regular consumption of amino acids improved my health.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-regular-consumption-of-amino-acids-improved-my-health/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“The clothes you're wearing, the room, the house, the city that you're in. Everything in it started out in the human imagination. Your lives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/the-clothes-you-re-wearing-the-room-the-house-the-city-that-you-re-in/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-crick/it-is-one-of-the-striking-generalizations-of-biochemistry-which/) [Francis Crick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-crick/) > [You see, proteins, as I probably needn't tell you, are immensely complicated groupings of amino acids and certain other specialized compounds, arranged in intricate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-see-proteins-as-i-probably-needn-t-tell-you-are-immensely/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I go to a poison registry and I find that no one has died from any overdose of any vitamins, herbs, or amino acids...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-null/i-go-to-a-poison-registry-and-i-find-that-no-one-has-died-from-any/) [Gary Null](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-null/) > [People crave laughter as if it were an essential amino acid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patch-adams/people-crave-laughter-as-if-it-were-an-essential-amino-acid/) [Patch Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patch-adams/) > [But all the vitamins, amino acids, protein etc. needed to get stronger can be found in abundance in plant foods. Anything that is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cheeke/but-all-the-vitamins-amino-acids-protein-etc-needed-to-get-stronger/) [Robert Cheeke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cheeke/) > [“Did you know that the term 'essential amino acids' is somewhat of a misnomer?! If they were that essential, wouldn't the body finding a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-hiwale/did-you-know-that-the-term-essential-amino-acids-is-somewhat-of-a/) [Deepak Hiwale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-hiwale/) > [You can convert amino acids into glucose so your body can turn protein into energy and this could result with excessive protein intake. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorian-yates/you-can-convert-amino-acids-into-glucose-so-your-body-can-turn/) [Dorian Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorian-yates/) > [“My recovery from a Long Covid like sickness is based on a foundation of specific amino acids. Removal of those amino acids causes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/my-recovery-from-a-long-covid-like-sickness-is-based-on-a-foundation/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Stanley Miller and Harold Urey, was to simulate the conditions on Earth in primordial times, three or four billion years ago, when life appeared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/stanley-miller-and-harold-urey-was-to-simulate-the-conditions-on/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [“When you are taking fixed dosages of amino acids, what is happening in the kidneys mimics exactly what is happening in the brain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kalish/when-you-are-taking-fixed-dosages-of-amino-acids-what-is-happening-in/) [Daniel Kalish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kalish/) > [If one compares the sequence of amino acids that go to form the protein haemoglobin, it becomes apparent that humans and chimps are identical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-conway-morris/if-one-compares-the-sequence-of-amino-acids-that-go-to-form-the/) [Simon Conway Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-conway-morris/) > [It will be possible, through the detailed determination of amino-acid sequences of hemoglobin molecules and of other molecules too, to obtain much information about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-pauling/it-will-be-possible-through-the-detailed-determination-of-amino-acid/) [Linus Pauling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-pauling/) > [“Meat, fish, dairy, poultry, and eggs almost universally have high levels of sulfur-containing amino acids, which are metabolized by the body into sulfuric acid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rip-esselstyn/meat-fish-dairy-poultry-and-eggs-almost-universally-have-high-levels/) [Rip Esselstyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rip-esselstyn/) [Browse all 25 Amino acids quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amino-acids/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Part of the problem was that no one knew exactly how a cell took a nucleic acid sequence and turned it into a blob of protein made up of amino acids.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Cobb" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew-exactly-how-a-cell-took-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amino acids" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew-exactly-how-a-cell-took-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f0/matthew-cobb-32875_amino-acids_part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew_3079963.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Part of the problem was that no one knew exactly how a cell took a nucleic acid sequence and turned it into…” — Matthew Cobb", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Matthew Cobb", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-cobb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Part of the problem was that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew-exactly-how-a-cell-took-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-cobb/part-of-the-problem-was-that-no-one-knew-exactly-how-a-cell-took-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```