DNA and RNA Chp15 Flashcards
What is heredity
the passing on of features from parents to offspring by means of genes
What is a gene
a section of DNA that causes the production of a protein
What is gene expression
the way in which the genetic information in a gene is decoded in the cell and used to make protein
What are characteristics
traits or features that are inherited genetically
Structure of chromosomes
60% protein and 40% DNA
What is non-coding DNA
DNA that does not cause the production of a protein
What are the four DNA bases
adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine
What are the DNA base pairs
adenine and thymine, guanine and cytosine
What is genetic code
the sequence of bases in DNA that provide the instruction for a cell (using RNA) to form a protein
What is a triplet/codon
a sequence of three bases in DNA (or RNA) that act as a code for an amino acid
What is a DNA profile
a method of making a unique pattern of bands from the DNA of a person, which can then be used to compare with the DNA profile of another person
Method of preparing a DNA profile
DNA is released from cells, DNA is cut into fragments of different lengths, DNA fragments are separated according to their sizes, patterns produced by the fragments are compared or analysed
Application a DNA profiling
Crime, Medical
What is genetic screening
testing DNA for the presence or absence of a particular gene or an altered gene
Differences between DNA and RNA
DNA: has deoxyribose, has thymine, double stranded
RNA: has ribose, has uracil, single stranded
What is transcription
the copying of a sequence of genetic bases from DNA onto messenger RNA
What is translation
the conversion of a sequence of genetic bases on messenger RNA into a sequence of amino acids
What is a nucleotide
phosphate, sugar and a nitrogenous base
Who discovered the double helix
James Watson and Francis Crick
Learn steps to protein synthesis
page 181
What are the purine bases
adenine and guanine
What are the pyrimidine bases
thymine and cytosine
Types of RNA
mRNA, tRNA, rRNA
Function of mRNA
complementary strand to DNA, carries instruction for the production of a protein from DNA to a ribosome
