Genetic Coding
We may have totally misunderstood the nature of the genomic programming. ~ John Mattick
Canonically, the information encoded in a gene serves as a template for assembling a protein from the amino acid level on up. In other words, the construction of each protein is represented by a unique amino acid sequence, which is specified by the nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the protein.
The relationship between a nucleotide sequence and the corresponding amino acid sequence represents the genetic code. The code is seldom simply translated, nor is it readily packaged in one place.
The canonical genetic code is assumed to be deeply conserved across all domains of life with very few exceptions. ~ Russian geneticist Natalia Ivanova et al
Microbes pay no mind to the canonical dogma of geneticists. Viruses are especially prone to freely interpret genetic codes to suit themselves; a practice called recoding. The little parasites exploit the knowledge that their host typically follows standard scripting, thereby gaining leverage for their wily manipulations.
