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Poppys AQA Alevel Biology > Topic 8 - Definitions > Flashcards

Topic 8 - Definitions Flashcards

1
Q

What is acetylation?

A

The addition of acetyl groups to histones. Acetylation activates the gene by making it more accessible in transcription factors.

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2
Q

What is addition?

A

A form of gene mutation in which one or more nucleotide bases are inserted into a DNA sequence. This may result in a frame shift to the right.

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3
Q

What is a benign tumour?

A

Describe the tumour that is a non-cancerous tumour. They grow slowly and are enclosed in a capsule and remain at the site of origin and they are usually removed by surgery.

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4
Q

What is cancer?

A

A noncommunicable disease resulting from tumour cells that metastasise.

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5
Q

What is cellular proteome?

A

The proteins expressed in a given type of cell.

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6
Q

What is complementary DNA (cDNA)?

A

A single strand of DNA complementary to the mRNA template strand.

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7
Q

What is complementary proteome?

A

All of the proteins coded for by the genome.

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8
Q

What is deletion?

A

A form of gene mutation in which one or more nucleotide bases are removed from a DNA sequence. This result in a frame shift to the left.

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9
Q

What is differentiation?

A

A process in which cells become specialised for function.

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10
Q

What is DNA hybridisation?

A

The process by which a single-stranded segment of DNA is combined with a complementary fragment of DNA or RNA.

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11
Q

What is DNA ligase?

A

An enzyme that joins the sugar-phosphate backbone of two DNA segments.

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12
Q

What is DNA polymerase?

A

An enzyme that synthesises a double stranded molecule of DNA from a single template strand using complementary nucleotides.

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13
Q

What is a DNA probe?

A

A short single stranded segment of DNA that can be fluorescently or radioactively labelled. DNA probes are used to locate specific alleles of genes.

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14
Q

What is DNA sequencing?

A

Determining the entire DNA nucleotide base sequence of an organism.

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15
Q

What is duplication?

A

A form of gene mutation in which one or more nucleotide bases are repeated. This may result in a frame shift to the right.

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16
Q

What is Epigenetics?

A

The study of changes in gene expression that are not due to alterations in the nucleotide

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17
Q

What is a frameshift mutation?

A

A form of gene mutation in which the addition or deletion of nucleotide bases alters all subsequent triplet codes in a DNA sequence. This often needs the production of a non-functional protein.

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18
Q

What is gel electrophoresis?

A

A technique that separates fragments of DNA by size using electric current.

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19
Q

What is a gene mutation?

A

I changed to at least one nucleotide base in DNA or the arrangement of bases. Gene mutation to correspond and may result in changes to the genotype.

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20
Q

What is gene therapy?

A

A technique in which a functional gene clone from a healthy individual is inserting into cells that lack the gene.

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21
Q

What is a genetically modified organism?

A

GMO’s are organisms that have their genome altered.

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22
Q

What is genetic counselling?

A

A service that provides information and a device to people effective by or at high risk of genetic diseases. This helps individuals and families to make make informed decisions.

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23
Q

What is genetic fingerprinting?

A

A technique used to genetically identifying organism it has applications in forensics paternity testing diagnostics and the breeding of plants and animals.

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24
Q

What is genome screening?

A

The complete genetic material of an organism.

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25
What is hypermethylation?
Increase methylation of DNA. This result in the inactivation of tumours suppressor genes which results in the formation of tumours.
26
What is hypomethylation?
Reduce methylation of DNA and can result in the activation of oncogenes genes and the resulting formation of tumours.
27
What is induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS)?
Unipotent cells that have been reprogrammed using transcriptional factors to become pluripotent stem cells. They are also capable of self renewal.
28
What is an inversion mutation?
A form of gene mutation in which a group of nucleotide bases break off from the DNA sequence and reattached in the same position but in the reverse order.
29
What is meant by in vitro?
Describes the procedure that takes place outside of living organism in a controlled environment e.g. DNA is amplified using PCR in a thermocycler.
30
What is meant by in vivo?
Describes the procedure that takes place inside of a living organism, e.g. fragments of DNA can be transferred to a host cell where they are amplified.
31
What is meant by a malignant tumour?
Describe the tumour that is cancerous. Such tumours grow rapidly are not enclosed in a capsule and can spread to other regions of the body. Treatments involve radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery.
32
What are marker genes?
An additional gene inserted into a plasmid that is used to aid in the identification of host cells that have taken up the desired gene. Jeans are easily recognisable they have fluorescence or provide antibiotic resistance.
33
What is metastasis?
The process by which cells break off from a primary tumour and spread to other areas of the body forming secondary tumours.
34
What is methylation?
The transfer of methyl groups cytosine bases of DNA. Methylation inhibits transcription by making the DNA less accessible to transcription factors or preventing transcription factors from binding. Deactivates the gene.
35
What is a multipotent cell?
Stem cells found in a mature mammal that can only differentiate into a limited number of cell types.
36
37
What is a mutagenic agent?
An agent that increases the rate of gene mutations above normal level.
38
What is a mutation?
A random change in DNA, which may result in genetic variance.
39
What is mutation rate?
The frequency of mutations per biological unit.
40
What is non-coding DNA?
DNA that does not code for a protein but instead controls gene expression.
41
What is oestrogen?
A steroid hormone involved in the initiation of transcription. It joins to a receptor site on a transcriptional factor activating a DNA binding site and stimulating transcription.
42
What are oncogenes?
Mutations of proto-oncogenes they are activated continuously.
43
What is personalised medicine?
A form of medical care that enabled doctors to provide healthcare customised to an individuals genotype.
44
What are pluripotent cells?
Stem cells found in embryos that have the ability to differentiate into almost all types of cells except from placenta cells.
45
What is the polymerase chain reaction?
An in vitro technique used to rapidly amplify fragments of DNA.
46
What are primers?
Short nucleotide sequences complementary to one end of each of the DNA fragments.
47
What is a promoter?
Region of DNA where RNA polymerase bind during transcription.
48
What are proto-oncogenes?
Genes that stimulate cell division upon the attachment of growth factors to specific receptor proteins on the cell membrane.
49
What are recognition sequences?
Specific base sequences of DNA that restriction enzymes cut.
50
What is recombinant DNA?
A combination of DNA from two different organisms.
51
What is recombinant DNA technology?
The process by which segments of DNA are transferred from one organism to another.
52
What is restriction endonuclease?
Enzymes that cut DNA molecules at recognition sequences creating sticky ends.
53
What is reverse transcriptase?
An enzyme that synthesis his DNA from RNA.
54
What is a risk factor?
A variable associated with a greater chance of developing a disease or infection.
55
What is RNA interference (RNAi)?
A method of controlling gene expression by breaking down mRNA molecules preventing translation.
56
What is a silent mutation?
A type of substitution mutation that produces the same amino acid due to the degeneracy of the genetic code.
57
What is a stem cell?
Cells that are unspecialised and retain the ability to differentiate into a range of cell types.
58
What are sticky ends?
The staggered cut form by restriction endonucleases in double-stranded DNA.
59
What is a substitution mutation?
A form of gene mutation in which one nucleotide base is exchanged for another.
60
What is a terminator?
Region on DNA where RNA polymerase is released, ending transcription.
61
What is a thermocycler?
Stem cells found in early mammalian embryos which have the ability to differentiate into any type of body cell.
62
What is a totipotent cell?
Stem cells found in early mammalian embryos which have the ability to differentiate into any type of body cell.
63
What is transformation?
The reinsertion of plasmid back into bacterial cells to form transgenic bacteria. This involves mixing the plasma and bacteria cells in a medium containing calcium ions.
64
What is a tumour?
An abnormal mass of cells formed by uncontrolled cell division.
65
What is a tumour suppressor gene?
Jeans that slow cell division repair DNA and caused the breakdown of cells with damaged DNA by apoptosis.
66
What are transcriptional factors?
Specific molecules which pass from the cytoplasm of a cell into the nucleus where they bind to complementary base sequences of DNA and initiate transcription.
67
What is a transgenic organism?
An organism that contains recombinant DNA.
68
What is translocation of bases?
A form of gene mutation in which a group of nucleotide bases break off from the DNA sequence on one chromosome and are added to the DNA sequence on a different chromosome.
69
What is a unipotent cell?
Stem cells found in mature mammals that arise from multipotent cells and can only differentiate into a single single cell type.
70
What is the variable number Tandem repeats?
Repeated sequences of non-coding nucleotide bases it is unlikely that two unrelated individuals will have the same VNTR.
71
What is a vector?
A carrier used to transfer a gene from one organism to another, e.g. plasmid.
72
What is the whole genome shotgun sequencing?
A method of sequencing an organisms entire genome. This involves cutting the DNA into small segments underlining overlapping sections using computer algorithms.

Poppys AQA Alevel Biology (35 decks)

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