What genetic code does this use?

It uses the standard genetic code, NCBI translation table 1, which applies to nuclear genes in most organisms. AUG codes for methionine and serves as start, while UAA, UAG, and UGA are stop codons. Organelle and a few alternative codes differ and are not applied here.

Does it matter if I enter DNA or RNA?

No. The tool converts thymine to uracil internally so DNA and mRNA give the same protein. The coding or sense strand of DNA reads identically to the mRNA apart from T versus U, so paste either and you get the correct translation.

What are the three reading frames?

A nucleotide sequence can be read in three frames depending on whether translation starts at the first, second, or third base. Shifting the frame regroups the triplets entirely and usually produces a different protein, so choosing the correct frame is essential.

How are stop codons shown?

Stop codons UAA, UAG, and UGA are rendered as an asterisk in the one-letter output and as the word Stop in the three-letter output. Translation continues past a stop so you can see the full reading frame, including any downstream codons.

What happens to extra bases at the end?

Only complete triplets are translated. If the chosen frame leaves one or two bases over at the end, they cannot form a codon, so they are ignored and the tool tells you how many trailing bases were dropped.

Codon to Amino Acid Translator

Translating a coding sequence into protein means reading it three bases at a time and looking each triplet up in the genetic code. This tool does exactly that for any DNA or mRNA you paste, in your chosen reading frame, and reports the protein in both one-letter and three-letter codes.

How it works

The sequence is cleaned of spaces, uppercased, and any thymine is converted to uracil so DNA and RNA behave identically. Starting from the chosen frame, the tool walks the sequence in non-overlapping triplets and maps each codon through the standard genetic code table.

AUG maps to methionine, the three stop codons map to an asterisk, and the other sixty codons map to their amino acids. Any one or two bases left over at the end cannot complete a codon and are reported as ignored.

Worked example

The DNA ATGGCCTTAGGCTAA read in frame +1 splits into ATG GCC TTA GGC TAA, which translates to Met-Ala-Leu-Gly-Stop, or MALG* in one-letter code. Shifting to frame +2 regroups the bases entirely and yields a completely different, biologically meaningless reading, which illustrates why frame selection matters.

Tips

If you are not sure of the frame, try all three and look for the one that begins with a start codon and runs without an internal stop. Remember this translates the strand you paste as written; to translate the opposite strand, reverse complement it first. The genetic code here is the standard table, so use a specialised tool for mitochondrial or alternative codes.