DNA to protein translator
ATG → M (Met)
Paste a DNA sequence and choose a reading frame among the six (+1, +2, +3 forward, −1, −2, −3 on the reverse complement), or display all six at once: the tool splits the sequence into codons and translates them using the standard genetic code, with 1-letter and 3-letter representations, each codon's position on the forward strand, stop codon detection and detection of an incomplete trailing codon. A codon containing an ambiguous IUPAC base is only translated with certainty if all its possibilities code the same amino acid.
Scientific dossier
What the tool computes, what it assumes, where it stops being valid, and where its data comes from.
Method & formulasATG → M (Met)
ATG → M (Met)
TAA, TAG, TGA → * (Stop)
CTN → L (Leu), certain despite the ambiguous base N
Every codon is read from the standard genetic code table (61 codons to an amino acid, 3 stop codons). A codon containing an ambiguous base (N, R, Y...) follows the same table on each of its possible combinations: the result is only certain if all of them lead to the same amino acid.
- Codon
- · a group of 3 consecutive bases, the reading unit of the genetic code.
- Reading frame
- · the starting point for splitting into codons: shifting the start by 1 or 2 bases entirely changes the resulting protein.
- Reverse frame (−1, −2, −3)
- · a frame read on the reverse complement of the sequence (the opposite strand, in its own 5'→3' direction). Reported positions always stay those of the forward strand you entered, so the six frames remain directly comparable.
- Stop codon
- · a codon (TAA, TAG or TGA) that codes no amino acid and ends translation, shown as "*".
- Incomplete codon
- · 1 or 2 remaining bases at the end of the sequence, not enough to form a codon: never translated.
- Xaa (X)
- · symbol used when an ambiguous codon (IUPAC base) could code several different amino acids depending on the actual base. No residue is guessed.
Validity domainSix-frame mode shows a per-frame summary (protein, position, stop codons) rather than the full codon-by-codon detail of all six frames at once, to stay readable on mobile and reasonable in memory on a long sequence: that full detail remains available via CSV export.
Six-frame mode shows a per-frame summary (protein, position, stop codons) rather than the full codon-by-codon detail of all six frames at once, to stay readable on mobile and reasonable in memory on a long sequence: that full detail remains available via CSV export. This tool doesn't yet automatically detect open reading frames (ORFs, between a start and a stop codon, see the dedicated ORF detector) and doesn't offer an alternate genetic code table (mitochondrial, etc.). A possible extension that needs no architecture change, just not built yet.
The genetic codeEach group of 3 bases (a codon) codes for an amino acid, following a table fixed by convention (the standard genetic code, used here).
Each group of 3 bases (a codon) codes for an amino acid, following a table fixed by convention (the standard genetic code, used here). 61 of the 64 possible codons code for one of the 20 amino acids; the remaining 3 (TAA, TAG, TGA) are stop codons that end translation.
ExampleThe sequence atgcattaa, frame +1, splits into ATG (methionine, M), CAT (histidine, H) and TAA (stop): the resulting protein is "MH" followed by a translation stop.
The sequence atgcattaa, frame +1, splits into ATG (methionine, M), CAT (histidine, H) and TAA (stop): the resulting protein is "MH" followed by a translation stop. Changing frame (+2, +3, or the reverse frames −1 to −3) splits the same sequence into completely different codons; "all six frames" mode shows them all at once, each with its starting position on the forward strand.