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Protein Fore!mation Mystery Cache

Hidden : 7/22/2007
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Park close to the above coordinates. The 1.5L cache is found a short stroll from the main path with pleasant surroundings.

You (probably ) have 46 chromosomes in each of your somatic cells. Each cell has essentially the same set of chromosomes, which are composed of DNA - the recipe for all of the structural and functional proteins in your body. DNA is made up of 4 types of nucleotides. These are called Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), and Thymine (T). These nucleotides combine in groups of 3 to code for an amino acid.

By combining in any fashion possible, these 4 nucleotides can produce 64 unique codes. With only 20 types of amino acids available for protein formation, many of these codes double up and are used for the same amino acid. Eg: The first codon and the second codon both code for the amino acid "Phenylalanine", whilst the sixty-first, sixty-second, sixty-third and sixty-fourth all code for "Glycine". A couple of the codes are “stop” codons – these do not code for any amino acid and instead result in a break of the chain.

The DNA is copied, in a process known as transcription, to produce messenger RNA (mRNA) which then instructs special organelles called ribosomes on how to form the correct amino acid sequence. The resultant chain of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds is called a protein. Your task is to decode the DNA strand in order to find the cache. If you come across a "stop" codon, then disregard its codon number and use it as a break in the chain.

DNA sequence of this Protein Fore!mation:
AATGAAATTCATACTCCTAATATCCAGTAAATCAAGATTGAGGCAATC

Table of codons:

FTF: Eynowd

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[puzzle] Genafpevcgvba - Gulzvar vf ercynprq ol Henpvy, cnvevat: N&G, P&T [cache] pbqbaf ner tebhcf bs GERR ahpyrbgvqrf

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)