B6 Flashcards
what does DNA stand for?
deoxyribonucleic acid
How many sttrands is DNA made up of? What are they joined by?
2 strands, joined by base pairs
What shape does DNA form?
Double helix shape
Why is DNA a polymer?
Made up of many monomers called nucleotide
What are DNA monomers called? What do they consist of? (3)
Nucleotide, consists of:
- phosphate group (small circles)
- Pentose sugar
- nitrogen containing group
What does each chromosome contain?
Different genes
What does a bigger chromosome mean?
Longer DNA
What chromosome determines your gender?
Sex chromosomes, the 23rd pair
What chromosomes do females/ males have?
Females - XX
Males - XY
What is a gene? (3)
A small section of DNA that code for a particular protein
- codes for a sequence of amino acids
- it is a small segment of a chromosome
What do genes do?
Code for a sequence of amino acids
- when these amino acids are combined in this sequence they form a protein
How many types of amino acids are there?
20
- can be combined in so many combinations, so can make thousands of proteins
What does DNA determine? ( In terms of proteins)
Which protein a cell produces, e.g red blood cell needs lots of the protein haemoglobin
What is a genome?
The entire set of genetic material to an organism
- your genome will be similar to your parents and identical to your twin’s
What do genomes allow us to identify?
Genes that cause disease
- certain genes increase the risk of disease