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not_my_usual_name OP t1_jc3fnd8 wrote

Reply to comment by CrateDane in How does viral RNA encode both the capsule and the RNA? by not_my_usual_name

What I mean is that if each base in the injected RNA specifies exactly one base of the produced RNA, then there aren't any bases left in the injected RNA to specify how to build anything but an identical strand of RNA. It seems like there must be something more efficient going on, and I'm interested in what it is from an information science perspective.

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CrateDane t1_jc3k5ov wrote

If there's a sequence of AUG in an RNA, then an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase can copy that to UAC in a newly synthesized RNA, because those bases "fit" in base pairs. Then the UAC in that RNA can be copied into AUG in a new RNA that's identical to the original one.

A ribosome can read the exact same AUG sequence and insert a methionine into a protein.

One method is essentially just straight copying while staying in the same language, while the other is translating to a different language. That's why the process of making proteins is called translation.

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