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Degenerate code

(Science: molecular biology) The fact that in most cases in the genetic code used by all life on earth, one particular amino acid is specified by more than one three-base combination of the four nitrogenous bases (called a codon).

there are enough different codons to specify 64 different amino acids, but there are in actuality only 20 amino acids (and three stop codons) used in the making of proteins.