Stop codon

Stop codon is like a traffic signal for cells. Just like how red traffic lights tell cars to stop, stop codons tell cells to stop making proteins.

Proteins are like building blocks for our body. Our cells use a set of instructions called RNA to build these proteins. RNA is like a recipe book for cells. It tells them what proteins to make and how to make them.

Now, imagine you're building a tower out of blocks. You have a set of instructions that tell you to stack blocks one on top of another. But what if the instructions didn't tell you when to stop stacking? You would just keep stacking until you run out of blocks, right?

The same thing happens with proteins. If the RNA doesn't give a signal to stop making the protein, the cells just keep making it. But sometimes, you don't need more of that protein. That's where stop codons come in.

Stop codons are like special words in the RNA recipe that tell the cells to stop making the protein. Just like how the word "stop" tells you to stop doing something, stop codons tell the cells to stop making proteins.

There are three different stop codons: UAA, UAG, and UGA. Every time the RNA recipe has one of these stop codons, it signals the cells to stop making the protein.

So, stop codons are like special words in the RNA recipe that tell cells to stop making proteins. They are important to make sure cells don't keep making proteins they don't need.