The genetic code is unambiguous primarily because of choose your answer... The genetic code is degenerate primarily because of choose your answer..
Genetic information is stored in DNA and this information is present in a particular sequence. After transcription, this information can be read by ribosomes along with the assistance of tRNA to make proteins.
This information is present in a form of nucleotide triplet or a codon. Each codon specifies a particular amino acid and hence the sequence of a codon is essential. We have four nucleotides namely, A, T, G, and C, and 20 standard amino acids. If we take codon as a triplet we can easily make 20 amino acids. This formula helps to understand the same - 4^3 = 64 which is more than sufficient to make 20 amino acids.
The genetic code is unambiguous primarily because of the specificity of one triplet to code only for a particular amino acid. This process is highly dependent on the sequence specificity and one triplet is specialised to code for only a single amino acid and not any other. For example, if UUU codes for phenylalanine then it will only code for phenylalanine and not any other amino acid.
The genetic code is degenerate primarily because of codon redundancy i.e., availability of more than one codon for a single amino acid. For example, UUU and UUG both codes for phenylalanine. This is also a cause of synonymous mutations in the genes in which the mutated version of a gene also codes for the same amino acid hence no visible effect is seen by such mutations.
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