How do you arrive at this answer?
The RNA-binding protein database (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. lists 416 RNA-binding proteins in the human genome. Suppose, as a hypothetical (that is certainly not true in practice), that all of the following conditions hold:
each of these sequences recognizes a distinct corresponding RNA binding site,
the RNA binding site for each of the 416 proteins is the same length (N nucleotides),
a protein either binds or it doesn't: there is no quantitative degree of binding (more precisely, the binding constant is either zero or infinity),
at each of the N positions of the binding site, there are exactly two possibilities for what the nucleotide can be, if the protein is to bind,
no two proteins recognize the same binding site sequence.
What is the minimum integer value of N, if all these conditions hold?
ANSWER: 9.0 is the minimum integer value of N
How do you arrive at this answer?
The RNA-binding protein database (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. lists 416 RNA-binding proteins in the human genome. Suppose, as a hypothetical (that is certainly not true in practice), that all of the following conditions hold:
each of these sequences recognizes a distinct corresponding RNA binding site,
the RNA binding site for each of the 416 proteins is the same length (N nucleotides),
a protein either binds or it doesn't: there is no quantitative degree of binding (more precisely, the binding constant is either zero or infinity),
at each of the N positions of the binding site, there are exactly two possibilities for what the nucleotide can be, if the protein is to bind,
no two proteins recognize the same binding site sequence.
What is the minimum integer value of N, if all these conditions hold?
ANSWER: 9.0 is the minimum integer value of N
