Key Area 3 - DNA And The Production Of Proteins Flashcards
What is DNA?
DNA is a large molecule found in all living organisms.
What does DNA stand for?
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Where is DNA stored in plants, animals and fungi?
DNA is stored within their nuclei.
Where is DNA found in bacterial cells?
DNA is found in the cytoplasm and some of its forms ring-like structures called plasmids
Why is DNA an important molecule?
It is an important molecule because it contains all the genetic information that cells need to make proteins.
What do the proteins within DNA have a large role in playing?
They play a large role in determining your physical characteristics such as eye colour, skin colour, height etc.
What is the structure of DNA?
DNA is a double-stranded helix.
What are the two sugar-phosphate backbones which curve around each other held together by?
They are held together by complimentary base pairs.
In plants, animals and fungal cells what are the structures that DNA is tightly packed into?
Packaged into structures called chromosomes
What are the four bases in DNA?
adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine
Which bases always pair together to form the complimentary base pairs?
adenine and thymine (A,T)
guanine and cytosine (G,C)
What is a section of DNA that contains genetic information to create a particular protein called?
A gene.
What other genetic instructions does DNA contain?
All the proteins your body can produce
What is messenger RNA?
It is a molecule that carries a complimentary copy of the base sequence of a gene in the nucleus as a template
What does the base sequence determine?
The amino acid sequence in proteins
