Crick here responded to Champe's report of results from his research with the rII mutants of the bacterial viruses T2 (phage) which had been used since the early 1950s in genetic mapping experiments. Crick himself discussed results of research with acridine mutants of bacteriophage T2, a different family of mutants in whose study Crick's laboratory specialized and which he used to provide evidence for the three-letter composition of the genetic code. The specific experiments to which Crick referred were with acridine mutants called amber (the triplet UAA) and ochre (UAG) and with the triplet UGA, all three of which signal the end of the polypeptide chain in protein synthesis.
Number of Image Pages:
2 (158,643 Bytes)
Date:
1967-03-06 (March 6, 1967)
Creator:
Crick, Francis
Recipient:
Champe, Sewell
Source:
Original Repository: Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers
Letter from Sewell Champe to Francis Crick (March 1, 1967)