Name: _____________________________________
Date: ____________
Catch the Hacker
Dr. Johnson was recently hacked by a crazed information thief, and luckily he was able to
avoid his prized research being taken. He has gone into hiding out of fear that he will be attacked
again, but he was able to gather several clues about the identity of his attacker before disconnecting
from the grid. Because Dr. Johnson is a geneticist, he has sent his clues in the form of a special code:
the genetic code. If you recall the order of the amino acids give the instructions to make different
proteins that organisms need to sustain life. Your job is to use the codon wheel to transcribe and
translate these messages to determine the correct amino acid sequence and help identify the hacker.
After each sequence is translated, write the single letter abbreviation for each amino acid to discover
the clue. Use the clues to determine the HACKER.
The Suspects:
Chubby- The
Judge
Lose-Lonnie
The Lawyer
Skinny- The
Deputy
Ralph- The
Oil Tycoon
Pete-The
Professor
Example DNA message: AAGATTCTTCTTGAAAGA
Transcription: ______ Lys-Ile-Leu-Leu-Glu-Arg ____________________________
Translation: _________ KILLER _____________________________________________________
What is the Clue? _______________________________________________________________
DNA message #1: CATGCCACT
Transcription: __________________________________________________________________
Translation: ____________________________________________________________________
What is the Clue? _______________________________________________________________
DNA message #2: TTTGCTTGTATTGCTCTC CATGCTATTAGG
Transcription: __________________________________________________________________
Translation: ____________________________________________________________________
What is the Clue? _______________________________________________________________
DNA message #3: TTTGAAGCTACTCACGAACGTCTTGAAAGCAGT
Transcription: __________________________________________________________________
Translation: ____________________________________________________________________
What is the Clue? _______________________________________________________________
DNA message #4: TTGGCATGG
Transcription: __________________________________________________________________
Translation: ____________________________________________________________________
What is the Clue? _______________________________________________________________
1. Based on each clue, who do you think hacked Dr. Johnson?