What is meant by the statement: the genetic code is universal?

Biological information is stored in the cells of all living organisms as a very long
sequence of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acids) molecules, the building blocks of which
are called nucleotide bases. While a DNA molecule contains billions of nucleotide
bases, there is a relatively little percentage of active segments that do provide
instructions for the production of proteins. These are called genes.
In the machinery of the cell, a gene undergoes transcription to duplicate the
instructions as messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), similar in structure to DNA but
less stable. The mRNA then functions as a template for protein synthesis and is read
as codons, a triplet of bases. There are 4 nucleotide bases used in a sequence of
mRNA: uracil (U), cytosine (C), adenosine (A) and guanine (G), and given a triplet of
bases, there are 64 possible codons.
Each codon of mRNA then codes for each of the 20 amino acids, which are the
building blocks of proteins. A start codon, which signals the start of protein
synthesis, exists and reads as AUG. There are also three stop codons (UAA, UGA and
UAG), which signal termination of protein synthesis. This is the genetic code.
The genetic code has four characteristics. First, it is unambiguous, meaning it
always codes for the same amino acid. Second, it is degenerate, meaning a given
amino acid may have more than one triplet coding for it. Third, it is nonoverlapping, meaning that the code is read from a fixed origin as a continuous
sequence, taken three at a time.
Lastly, it is universal. The genetic code has been conserved among all living things,
from the simplest bacteria to humans, and since the very early stages of evolution,
and with only minor differences in the manner in which the code was translated.
This means that CUU codes for leucine in both an elephant or a shrub. Thus, genes
can be transcribed and translated with the same output after being transferred from
one organism into another. Such is the case with many human genes inserted into
bacteria for wide-scale synthesis, such as insulin for the medical treatment of
diabetes.
There are, of course, a few exceptions to the universality of the genetic code.
Variants in translation exists in a few unicellular organisms such as yeast and
bacteria, and this has led to the observation of two more new amino acids.
Regardless, that the genetic language has been conserved across the diversity of
organisms and throughout years of evolution is a striking reminder of the binding
ties of life.