dna

Question 1

What is the name for the spiral shape of DNA?

Answer 1

Double helix

Question 2

What type of macromolecule is DNA, and what is its monomer?

Answer 2

nucleic acids - nucleotide

Question 3

structure of a nucleotide.

Answer 3

5-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), phosphate, nitrogen base

Question 4

Name the four nitrogen bases found in DNA and indicate which pairs with which.

Answer 4

Adenine –> Thymine
Guanine –> Cytosine

Question 5

What are the “sides” of a DNA ladder made out of? What are the “rungs”?

Answer 5

sides: alternating sugars (that bases attach to) and phospates
rungs: nitrogen bases (A, T, G, C)

Question 6

What type of bond holds the bases together?

Answer 6

hydrogen bond

Question 7

In a double helix of DNA, what bases would be on the strand opposite of the following bases?
A C C G T T A A C G T

Answer 7

T G G C A A T T G C A

Question 8

What do the enzymes helicase and DNA polymerase do?

Answer 8

helicase unzips DNA, DNA polymerase creates new DNA from nucleotides

Question 9

In DNA replication, how many double helixes do you start with, how many do you end up with, and how do they compare to each other?

Answer 9

start with one double helix that becomes two identical double helixes

Question 10

Define semi-conservative and explain how it relates to DNA replication.

Answer 10

Semi-conservative means that after DNA replication the new double helix has one rung from the old DNA strand and one brand new rung from new nucleotides

Question 11

What transcription, and where does it take place?

Answer 11

when DNA is copied over into RNA, in the nucleus

Question 12

What is translation, and where does it take place?

Answer 12

when mRNA becomes proteins, in the ribosome

Question 13

Explain the job of messenger RNA (mRNA) and the job of transfer RNA (tRNA).

Answer 13

mRNA tells your body how to make proteins, tRNA turns the mRNA into amino acids

Question 14

What is a codon and an anticodon?

Answer 14

codon: three nucleotides in an mRNA strand that code for certain amino acids
anticodon: three nucleotides in a tRNA strand that code for certain amino acids

Question 15

What is the monomer of a protein?

Answer 15

amino acids

Question 16

What is a mutation? Are they good or bad?

Answer 16

a change in the genetic code of an organism, can be either good or bad

Question 17

What is the difference between a gene mutation and a chromosomal mutation?

Answer 17

gene mutation: alters a single gene
chromosomal mutation: alters a chromosome or its structure

Question 18

point mutation (gene mutation)

Answer 18

a replacement of one chemical base with another, which changes the type of codon

Question 19

frameshift mutation (gene mutation)

Answer 19

a deletion of the chemical base, which shifts all of the bases and results in a mRNA sequence with entirely new codons

Question 20

deletion (chromosomal mutation)

Answer 20

One base is removed from the sequence

Question 21

duplication (chromosomal mutation)

Answer 21

A base is duplicated and the exact same base is formed as an addition to the sequence

Question 22

inversion (chromosomal mutation)

Answer 22

The first and last bases are swapped

Question 23

translocation (chromosomal mutation)

Answer 23

Bases go from one chromosome to another