The genetic code is the relationship between a nucleotide and an amino acid. Each amino acid is coded for by a set of three nucleotides in DNA. Each set of nucleotides is called a codon or triplet. The set of all possible three- nucleotide combinations is called the genetic code or triplet code.
The sequence of nucleotides in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids found in all proteins.
Codons are read from mRNA during protein synthesis and consequently, they are given in RNA bases rather than in the original DNA sequence. The process of reading these codons is called translation.