Solution - Life Braid

by Lee-kai Wang

Answer: Click here to reveal

The puzzle is presented as a sequence of DNA bases. Translating into amino acids and representing using the standard single-letter code gives the following strings, separated by stop codons:

CRPERYISCTAELLINNATLRPHIANA
CNYINEICLNINK
CHEASPEIARNAKANPPAASE
CACLPAYCLINSTATIHN
TRADYMNESTHYRCETLIINN
SCAMIPHINPDEHRYSININ
SAYNEMGGRIECANN
HAISRGITNIYDYLLTRTNRASNYANTSHYNTETAHESTASEE
PSEYPMTPLIDAEKSEIND
SENTAMATHELEIRINN
CENAHAVTAHSEPSPILIKNGE
NFAASLDIKGAINNASDE
NISVILCHLINLAIRKIEN
PGLASDEECRTMIINCN
PESPERTIDYLAYLTRGRINNIASYNENDETIMHINASEETYTPAESIVE
GAESPPARHAGIYNASRIEN
FEILLAMIANCGSTAINMMA
VLAERSIEVECRANIN

Each of these strings consists of the intertwined names of two human genes (standard names can be found at http://www.genenames.org/), and each pair of genes is located on the same human chromosome. Indexing chromosome numbers into the alphabet gives the clue UNDERGOES DNA CHANGE, giving the answer MUTATES.

Here is a full table of the genes used in the puzzle:

Gene 1Gene 2ChrClue
CRYSTALLIN ALPHA APERICENTRIN21U
CYCLIN KNINEIN14N
CASEIN KAPPAHEPARANASE4D
CALPASTATINCYCLIN H5E
TRANSTHYRETINDYMECLIN18R
SCINDERINAMPHIPHYSIN7G
SYNEMINAGGRECAN15O
HISTIDYL-TRNA SYNTHETASEARGINYL-TRNA SYNTHETASE5E
PEPTIDASE DSYMPLEKIN19S
STATHERINENAMELIN4D
CATHEPSIN GENAH/VASP-LIKE14N
NAD KINASEFAS LIGAND1A
NISCHARINVILLIN-LIKE3C
PLECTINGASDERMIN C8H
PEPTIDYL ARGININE DEIMINASE, TYPE IVSERYL-TRNA SYNTHETASE1A
GEPHYRINASPARAGINASE14N
FILAMIN C, GAMMAELASTIN7G
VERSICANLAEVERIN5E