Transcription & Translation

Question 1

what do you call the making of proteins?

Answer 1

protein synthesis

Question 2

list the two steps that make up protein synthesis

Answer 2

transcription and translation

Question 3

My part of the process involves copying a gene’s DNA sequence. what am I?

Answer 3

transcription

Question 4

what is in RNA that cannot be found in DNA? What does it replace?

Answer 4

Uracil, which replaces thymine

Question 5

what is a triplet code/codon?

Answer 5

a DNA or RNA molecule that codes for a particular amino acid

Question 6

my part of the process involves decoding the information for making proteins. What am i?

Answer 6

translation

Question 7

I can leave the nucleus. what am I?

Answer 7

mRNA

Question 8

Other than RNA, what other components help in the decoding process?

Answer 8

tRNA (transfer RNA) and the ribosome

Question 9

where are proteins built?

Answer 9

the ribosome

Question 10

what are amino acids?

Answer 10

molecules that combine to form proteins

Question 11

List and explain the steps of translation

Answer 11

Initiation
Ribosome assembles around mRNA to be read and first tRNA (carrying methionine) matches the start codon.
Elongation
This is where the amino acid stage gets longer. The mRNA is read one codon at a time, and the amino acid (aka anticodon) that matches each codon is added. It goes like this:
1. A matching tRNA binds to the codon.
2. the existing amino acid chain is linked onto the amino acid of the tRNA via a chemical reaction
3. the mRNA is shifted one codon over in the ribosome, exposing a new codon for reading.
Termination
this is the stage in which the finished chain is released. It begins when a stop codon enters the ribosome.

Question 12

List and explain the steps of transcription

Answer 12

Initiation
1. RNA polymerase binds to a sequence of DNA called the promoter (found near the beginning of each gene).
2. Once it’s bound, the RNA polymerase seperares the DNA strand.
Elongation
The RNA polymerase reads the DNA template strand one base at a time. It is through this process that it builds the mRNA, replacing thymine with uracil.
Termination
Sequences called terminators signal that the RNA transcript is complete. Once they are transcribed, the mRNA leaves.

Question 13

what does the protein do when it is released from the ribosome?

Answer 13

it folds into its functional shape

Question 14

List the three stop codons

Answer 14

UAA,
UGA
UAG

Question 15

name the start codon

Answer 15

AUG