NUCLEIC ACIDS

Question 1

what are nuclei acids?

Answer 1

instructions to make offspring from the parents

- instructions are found in our nucleic acid code

Question 2

what does dna provide?

Answer 2

instructions for the proper working of the cell

Question 3

how is instructions/codes organized?

Answer 3

they are organised in units called genes in which each gene codes for a particular polypeptide

Question 4

characteristics of DNA?

Answer 4

• double stranded

- base pairing leads to helical secondary structure in which bases are complementary to each other

Question 5

what does the helical secondary structure help with?

Answer 5

design chemical drugs to bind presenting

Question 6

characteristics of RNA?

Answer 6

• single stranded

- base paring leads to stem loop secondary structure

Question 7

what are nucleotide and nucleoside?

Answer 7

nucleoside : sugar and base
nucleotide : phosphate, sugar and base
- both can be used as building blocks for different biological molecules

Question 8

what are purines and pyrimidines?

Answer 8

purines : Adenine and Guanine

pyrimidines : Cytosine, Uracil (RNA) and Thymine (DNA)

Question 9

what are the three functions of nucleic acids?

Answer 9

• information storage and transfer
• energy transfer
• cofactor in enzymes

Question 10

what is information storage and transfer?

Answer 10

DNA and RNA code for the traits that make everyone unique

Question 11

what is energy transfer?

Answer 11

ATP is used to power almost all biological reactions when the third phosphate is cut off in which ATP becomes ADP with release of energy .

Question 12

what is cofactor in enzymes?

Answer 12

GTP is required in many enzymes to work

Question 13

what are the three applications of nucleic acids?

Answer 13

• amplify DNA using PCR
• molecular cloning using restriction enzymes
• sequencing with DNA polymerase and dye-terminator nucleotides

Question 14

what is amplifying DNA using PCR ?

Answer 14

take a very small amount of DNA/RNA and make copies of that specific region using enzymes such as DNA thermal polymerase from heat-loving bacteria
- generate exponential no. of copies from original template of DNA/RNA

Question 15

what is molecular cloning with restriction enzymes?

Answer 15

cutting a portion of our genes from any organism and move it to another organism - usually micro-org - which are able to express the genes

• able to make the protein according to the genes instructions
  e. g. the making of insulin

Question 16

what is sequencing with DNA polymerase and dye-terminator nucleotides?

Answer 16

determining the order in nucleotides in any strand of DNA - determining entire DNA sequence