title: Symmetry characteristics of the genetic code.
abstract: The symmetric pattern of codon degeneracies is discussed by using empirical arguments processed within a group-theoretic framework. It is reasoned that the genetic code is a relation rather than a mapping, and the symmetry of a relation defined on the codons is investigated. The principal results are (i) a new extraction of the basic symmetry inherent in the standard genetic code; (ii) the unification of the symmetry of ambiguous codon assignments with that of the standard genetic code; and (iii) the primacy of the concept of a biological context as that device which degenerates the code relation to a mapping.
mesh_terms: D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics; D005815:Genetic Code; D008433:Mathematics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D013698:Templates, Genetic
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D012333:RNA, Messenger