GNC hypothesis


The GNC hypothesis or GNC-SNS primeval genetic code hypothesis refers to a hypothesis about the origin of genes. It suggests the universal genetic code originated not from a three-amino acid system, but from a four-amino acid system. It is this GNC code encoding -proteins which is the most primitive genetic code. This hypothesis was first proposed by Kenji Ikehara at Nara Women's University.

Details

While almost all of the organisms on Earth share the universal genetic code, in the GNC hypothesis it is argued that two primeval genetic codes preceded the present genetic code as follows:
The GNC hypothesis is based on the following facts: