Meaning: Francis Crick, a renowned scientist who, along with James Watson, is credited with the discovery of the structure of DNA, made the statement, "A comparison between the triplets tentatively deduced by these methods with the changes in amino acid sequence produced by mutation shows a fair measure of agreement." This quote reflects Crick's work and contributions to the understanding of the genetic code and the relationship between DNA sequences and the resulting amino acid sequences.

In the mid-20th century, Crick and his colleagues were engaged in deciphering the genetic code, the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material (DNA and RNA) is translated into proteins. The genetic code is essentially a set of instructions that specifies the correspondence between the nucleotide sequence of DNA and RNA and the sequence of amino acids in proteins.

The "triplets" referred to in the quote are the codons, which are sequences of three nucleotides in DNA or RNA that correspond to a specific amino acid or signal during protein synthesis. Crick and his contemporaries were attempting to deduce the specific codon sequences that corresponded to each amino acid, a task that was crucial for understanding how genetic information is translated into proteins.

Crick's statement suggests that the methods used to deduce these codon sequences were compared with the changes in amino acid sequences caused by mutations. Mutations are alterations in the DNA sequence that can lead to changes in the corresponding amino acid sequence of a protein. By comparing the deduced codon sequences with the changes in amino acid sequences resulting from mutations, Crick and his colleagues were able to assess the accuracy and reliability of their methods for determining the genetic code.

This comparison likely involved analyzing the effects of specific mutations on the resulting protein sequence and correlating these changes with the predicted codon sequences. The "fair measure of agreement" mentioned by Crick indicates that there was a reasonable correspondence between the deduced codon sequences and the observed changes in amino acid sequences caused by mutations. This would have been a significant validation of the methods and theories developed by Crick and his colleagues in their efforts to elucidate the genetic code.

Overall, Crick's quote underscores the importance of experimental validation and empirical evidence in the field of molecular biology and genetics. It highlights the iterative nature of scientific inquiry, as researchers test their hypotheses and models against real-world observations and data. In the case of the genetic code, the ability to compare deduced codon sequences with the effects of mutations on amino acid sequences provided crucial feedback that helped refine and validate our understanding of how genetic information is translated into functional proteins.

In conclusion, Francis Crick's statement reflects his pioneering work in deciphering the genetic code and highlights the importance of experimental validation in molecular biology. By comparing deduced codon sequences with the effects of mutations on amino acid sequences, Crick and his colleagues were able to demonstrate a "fair measure of agreement" and validate their methods for decoding the genetic information stored in DNA. This work laid the foundation for our current understanding of the genetic code and its role in protein synthesis, with profound implications for fields such as genetics, biotechnology, and medicine.