L1 - DNA / RNA

Question 1

what is gene expression?

Answer 1

the process of production of gene products (proteins), which determines the function of any biological system

Question 2

what is differentiation?

Answer 2

differentiation is caused by changes in gene expression which determine functional specialisation, as differences between organisms are due to differences in patterns of gene expression and their gene products

Question 3

transcription

Answer 3

DNA information copied to RNA, carried out by RNA polymerase

Question 4

translation

Answer 4

base sequence of mRNA used to make proteins with specific amino acid sequences, carried out by ribosomes

Question 5

DNA structure

Answer 5

polymer of a deoxynucleotide containing phosphate (-ve charge), deoxyribose (sugar which lacks Oxygen on the 2’ carbon) and one of the 4 bases: Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine.

Question 6

what direction is a DNA molecule?

Answer 6

5’ end to 3’ end

Question 7

double stranded DNA structure

Answer 7

double helix, the strands connected via base pairing through hydrogen bonds, DNA strands are antiparallel
(A -T = 2 H bonds)
(C - G = 3 H bonds)

Question 8

RNA structure

Answer 8

Phosphate, Ribose sugar, all 4 bases except Uracil replaces Thymine

Question 9

what enzyme transcribes DNA?

Answer 9

RNA polymerase - synthesises RNA by inserting bases complementary to those in the template strand of the DNA

Question 10

which direction is the antisense/template DNA strand read?

Answer 10

3’ end to 5’ end

Question 11

which end does RNA synthesis start from on the new RNA molecule?

Answer 11

the 5’ end (opposite to template strand)