The wobble theory was proposed in 1966 by Francis Crick, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. The hypothesis explained the mechanics of part of the translation process, where information carried on the messenger RNA is recognized and used to manufacture protein. Specifically, the wobble theory addresses how the limited number of transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules are able to recognize all the combinations of codons--three base sequences of amino acids--on the messenger RNA. Recognition of these codons by tRNAs is an absolutely vital step in protein synthesis.

The tRNAs read the mRNA codons in a specific manner. Specific tRNAs bind specific codons. The rules by which codons are interpreted by the translation system are called the genetic code.

The three base arrangement of a codon means that there are 64 possible amino acids that can be coded. Because there only 20 amino acids, and codons do...