Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Translate DNA to RNA

def dna_to_rna(dna):
    '''(str) -> str

    Replace every T with a U
    
    >>>dna_to_rna('GTACTT')
    GUACUU

    >>>dna_to_rna('GGGGTTTTTCCCCTTTTTATCTGT')
    'GGGGUUUUUCCCCUUUUUAUCUGU'

    >>>dna_to_rna('TTTTTTTT')
    UUUUUUUU

    >>>dna_to_rna('TTAA')
    UUAA
    '''

    i = 0
    accum_s = ' '
    last_t_index = 0
    while i < len(dna):
        if dna[i] == 'T':
            accum_s = accum_s + dna[last_t_index: i] + 'U'
            last_t_index = i +1
        i = i + 1
    if last_t_index != len(dna):
        accum_s = accum_s + dna[last_t_index:len(dna)]
    print accum_s