Nucleic Acids & Fertility Rates (Human Body Science)

Question 1

Fertility Rates

Answer 1

Fertility rates refer to the average number of children women will have during their childbearing years, which are between the ages of 15 and 44.

Question 2

What is significant about fertility rates?

Answer 2

Fertility rates are significant because they coincide with the replacement rate; which is the number of births needed to maintain the population at its current number.

Question 3

Crude Birth Rate

Answer 3

Defined by the number of births per 1,000 people per year

Question 4

Crude Death Rate

Answer 4

Defined by the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year.

Question 5

Nucleic Acids

Answer 5

Primarily DNA and RNA; the job of nucleic acids is to store and transmit hereditary information.

Question 6

Structure of Nucleic Acids

Answer 6

Structurally, a nucleic acid is a chain of nucleotides that consist of:
- pentose -phosphate group and- nitrogenous base.

Question 7

Pentose of Nucleotide

Answer 7

A pentose is a type of sugar.

Question 8

Phosphate group of Nucleotide

Answer 8

A molecule in the backbone of DNA and RNA that link adjoining bases together.

Question 9

Nitrogenous Bases of Nucleotide

Answer 9

A nitrogenous base is a molecule found in DNA and RNA that encodes genetic information in cells.

Question 10

What are the 5 types of Nitrogenous Bases?

Answer 10

Adenine,
Cytosine,
Guanine,
Thymine,
Uracil

Question 11

Which nitrogenous base is only found in RNA?

Answer 11

Uracil

Question 12

How do bases match up in DNA?

Answer 12

Adenine (A) – Thymine (T)

Guanine (G) – Cytosine (C)

Question 13

Purines

Answer 13

Purines make up 2 of the 4 nitrogenous bases in DNA and RNA and have two carbon rings.
Purines = Adenine & Guanine (A&G)

Question 14

Pyrimidines

Answer 14

Pyramidines only have one carbon ring. Pyramidines= cytosine, thymine, and uracil

Question 15

Differences between RNA and DNA

Answer 15

DNA:
•In DNA, the pentose sugar is Deoxyribose
•The nitrogenous bases found in DNA are adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine.
•A – T / G – C
•DNA has a double-helix structure
•Contains hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus
RNA:
•In RNA, the pentose sugar is ribose
•The nitrogenous bases found in RNA are adenine, guanine, uracil, and cytosine.
•A – U / G – C
•RNA has a single strand of nucleotide
•Contains hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus

Question 16

What is the function of RNA?

Answer 16

RNA acts as the messenger and decoder for DNA in order to synthesize proteins and does so by using three forms:
Messenger RNA / Ribosomal RNA / Transfer RNA

Question 17

What are the steps from DNA to RNA to Protein Synthesis:

Answer 17

DNA⇒ Transcription ⇒ Translation ⇒ Protein Synthesis

Question 18

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

Answer 18

It is a relatively long strand of nucleotides that look like “half DNA” molecules. mRNA carries a transcript of the code to the cytoplasm, where protein synthesis occurs.

Question 19

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

Answer 19

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
rRNA is ribosomes that are made up of two subunits – one small and one large. They combine to make a functional ribosome along with protein that are literally the sites of protein synthesis.

Question 20

Transfer RNA (tRNA)

Answer 20

Ferry amino acids to ribosomes where they decode mRNA’s message for amino acid sequence in the polypeptide to be built.

Question 21

Transcription

Answer 21

The process in which DNA’s information is encoded into mRNA.

Question 22

Translation

Answer 22

The process after transcription in which the information carried by mRNA is decoded and used to make polypeptides (protein)

Question 23

Genetic Code

Answer 23

The rules by which a base sequence of a gene is translated into an amino acid sequence.

Question 24

Codon

Answer 24

For every three-base sequence of DNA there is a corresponding three-base sequence of mRNA which is what makes up a codon.

Question 25

Anticodon

Answer 25

The anticodon is the result of the corresponding part of the mRNA three base sequence, it is the head of tRNA.

Question 26

What is so significant about tRNA?

Answer 26

tRNA is the link between the language of nucleic acids and the language of proteins

Question 27

What happens one tRNA’s anticodon is loaded with it’s correspoinding amino acid base?

Answer 27

It carries that information to the ribosomes. The ribosome has one binding site for mRNA and three for tRNA.

Question 28

Where does transcription occur?

Answer 28

Nucleus

Question 29

Where does translation occur?

Answer 29

Cytoplasm

Question 30

What is the starting amino acid for translation coding called?

Answer 30

Methionine

Question 31

Introns vs. Exons in transcription

Answer 31

Introns are sequences that are removed after transcription.

Extrons are kept after transcription.