B2 - DNA Flashcards
What is DNA?
Deoxyribonucleic Acid
What is a haploid?
A cell with 1 set of chromosomes
What is a diploid?
A cell with 2 sets of chromosomes
What type of genetic material is DNA?
Type A
What type of genetic Material is RNA?
Type B
What is RNA?
Ribonucleic Acid
What is a gene?
A length of DNA that gives instructions to make a polypeptide protein
What three biological molecules are types of proteins?
Haemoglobin
Enzymes
Insulin
What is an amino Acid?
Large complex molecules made up of lots of smaller units
What three chemicals are nucleotides made up of?
Phosphate, sugar, base
What are the 5 possible bases and their letters?
A - Adenine T - Thymine G - Guanine C - Cytosine U - Uracil
What are the pairs of complimentary bases for DNA?
What are the pairs of complimentary bases for RNA?
C,G - A,T
A-U - C-G
What are complimentary base pairs held together by?
Hydrogen Bonds
Why is DNA described as double helixed?
Because they we made up of two strands that cool and twist around each other
How are polypeptides formed?
A chain of amino acids joined together
What were the two scientific fields involved in the discovery of DNA?
X ray crystallography - Rosalind Franklin
Biochemists - Watson and Crick
What is the human genome project?
A huge scientific project that was completed in 2001
It involved scientists from different countries working together
The aim was to sequence all the bases in human DNA
As a result this enabled all genes to be identified
Benefits of the human genome project?
You can all identify faulty genes/alleles that can cause health problems e.g. Cystic fibrosis, cancer and heart disease
It can enable gene therapy where faulty alleles are replaced
Drawbacks of the human genome project:
The information would need to be handled carefully for example, banks, employers, insurance companies may be influenced
If they received this information about people’s health conditions it could have a negative impact on them, e.g. Getting a job
