The translation procedure embodies the celebrated three-letter 'genetic code'. This is a dictionary, in which each of the 64 (4 x 4 x 4) possible triplets of DNA (or RNA) symbols is translated into one of the 20 amino acids or a 'stop reading' symbol. There are three of these 'stop reading' punctuation marks. Many of the amino acids are coded by more than one triplet (as you might have guessed from the fact that there are 64 triplets and only 20 amino acids). The whole translation, from strictly sequential DNA ROM to precisely invariant three-dimensional protein shape, is a remarkable feat of digital information technology. Subsequent steps by which genes influence bodies are a little less obviously computer-like.
