How many bases are in a codon?

A codon is a sequence of three nucleotide bases in mRNA that corresponds to a specific amino acid or a stop signal during protein synthesis. Each codon is made up of three bases because this triplet structure allows for a total of 64 different combinations (4 bases raised to the power of 3), which is sufficient to encode the 20 standard amino acids used in protein synthesis plus stop signals. This triplet nature of codons is essential for the accurate translation of genetic information into functional proteins.