DNA & Reproduction- Biology Paper 2 Flashcards
What is DNA?
A polymer made up of lots of nucleotides
What does each nucleotide consist of ?
one sugar molecule, one phosphate molecule, one base
What forms a ‘backbone’ to the DNA strands?
the sugar and phosphate molecule
What are the 4 different bases?
Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine
Which bases pair with which?
Adenine with Thymine, and Guanine with Cytosine
What does complementary base pairing decide?
Which base pairs with which base
What does a sequence of 3 bases make?
One amino acid
Where are proteins made ?
In the ribosomes
What do the ribosomes use to make proteins?
The code in the DNA
What does mRNA do?
carries a copy of the protein code between the DNA and the ribosome
Give 2 functions of proteins
Enzymes, which act as biological catalysts and hormones, which carry messages around the body
What is a mutation?
A ransom change in an organism’s DNA, which can sometimes be inhereted
What can cause DNA mutations?
ionising radiation and chemical mutagens - such as tar from cigarette smoke
What do mutations do?
Change the sequence of DNA bases in a gene and this can lead to changes in the protein that it codes for
What are the different types of DNA mutation?
Insertions, Deletions and substitutions
What is an insertion mutation?
Where a new base is inserted into the DNA base sequence where it shouldn’t be. This can change the amino acid that the base codes for
What is a deletion mutation?
When a random base is deleted from the DNA base sequence .This has knock on effects down the sequence
What are substitution mutations?
Where a ransom base in the DNA base sequence is changed to a different base
How many chromosomes do gametes have?
23
What is a gamete?
a sperm or egg cell
What is sexual reproduction?
where male and female gametes fuse. The genetic material becomes mixed because there are 2 different parents
How does asexual reproduction occur?
By mitosis
How many parents are there in asexual reproduction?
one
In asexual reproduction, why are the offspring genetically identical to the parent?
Because there’s only one parent and so genetic information is not mixed