To get the shortest-to-longest length ordering from the approach I outlined here, just use a  ? "lazy" modifier on the quantifier of the  \w* "padding" sub-pattern making it  \w*?:
    qr{ ATG \w*? (?: TAG | TAA | TGA) }xms;

Give a man a fish:  <%-{-{-{-<

In reply to Re^3: Using Recursion to Find DNA Sequences by AnomalousMonk
in thread Using Recursion to Find DNA Sequences by clueless_perl

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