Table 30.1: Accuracy of protein synthesis

 

Probability of synthesizing an error-free protein

 

Number of amino acid residues

Frequency of inserting an incorrect amino acid

100

300

1000

10−2

0.366

0.049

0.000

10−3

0.905

0.741

0.368

10−4

0.990

0.970

0.905

10−5

0.999

0.997

0.990

Note: The probability p of forming a protein with no errors depends on n, the number of amino acids, and ε, the frequency of insertion of a wrong amino acid: p = (1 − ε)n.