Biology ETA

Pedigree

A type of flow chart that uses symbols to show the patterns of relationships and traits within a family over many generations.

Pedigree Symbols

Symbols used to help one interpret a pedigree.

Autosomal Dominant

A disorder caused by the dominant allele (ex. A).

Autosomal Recessive

A disorder caused by the recessive allele (ex. a).

Sex-Linked Inheritance

A disorder caused by a recessive allele carried on the X chromosome.

Blood Typing

The method of determining what blood type someone has with the use of the alleles A, B, and O.

Genetics

The branch of science concerned with studying variation and the inheritance of traits.

Friedrich Miescher

A man who worked on white blood cells by collecting pus from bandages and coined the term of ‘nucleic acid’.

Phoebus Levene

A man who studied nucleic acid and identified two types; Ribose Nucleic Acid and Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. He also identified that nucleic acids are made of long chains of nucleotides.

Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase

The people who discovered that DNA carried genetic information.

Erwin Chargaff

The man who discovered the ratio between the four nitrogenous bases, and called it Chargaff’s rule.

Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins

The people who used x-rays to determine that DNA has a helical structure with nucleotide located on the inside and sugars and phosphates located on the outside.

James Watson and Francis Crick

The people who were the first to produce a structural model of DNA. They discovered that DNA is composed of two strands wrapped in a double helix with alternating sugars and phosphate groups forming the sides.

DNA

The building blocks of life that is made up of small units called nucleotides, and is in the shape of a double helix.

Double Helix

Two complementary strands wound together.

Nucleotides

The units that make up DNA, consisting of sugar, phosphate groups, and one of the four nitrogenous bases.

Deoxyribose

A type of sugar that is derived from ribose.

Phosphate Group

A functional group that helps to make up a nucleotide.

Nitrogenous Base

A DNA base pair. There are four types; Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Adenine.

Adenine

The nitrogenous bases that pairs with Thymine.

Thymine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Adenine.

Guanine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Cytosine.

Cytosine

The nitrogenous base that pairs with Guanine.

Complementary Base Pairing

Adenine always pairs with Thymine and Guanine always pairs with Cytosine.

Antiparallel

The idea that the two DNA strands run in opposite directions parallel to each other. It runs 3’ to 5’ and 5’ to 3’.

RNA

A molecule that is present in the majority of living organisms. It is made of sugar, nitrogenous bases and phosphates groups. It is Known as Ribose Nucleic Acid.

Ribose

A sugar that is used to create RNA.

Uracil

A base pair that takes the place of Thymine in RNA.

DNA Replication

The process of copying a DNA molecule to produce two new and identical DNA molecules.

Semi-Conservative Replication

Replication where a DNA molecule is copied and each new molecule contains one parental strand (conserved) and one brand new strand.

DNA Helicase

A replication enzyme whose main function is to unwind and unzip DNA strands Which creates a replication fork.

RNA Primase

A replication enzyme that creates a primer on DNA to create a starting point for DNA polymerase to start working.

DNA Polymerase

A replication enzyme that builds new DNA strands by adding complementary base pairs to the existing strand.

DNA Ligase

A replication enzyme that joins the okazaki fragments on the lagging strand. It acts as a molecular glue.

Replication Bubble

An unwound and open region of a DNA helix where DNA replication occurs.

Replication Fork

The region where DNA is unwound (The direction in which DNA helicase is moving)

Bi-directional Replication

A type of DNA replication where replication is taking place in both directions and will create two replication forks.

Leading Strand

The strand in which replication occurs continuously in the 5’ to 3’ direction. Elongation occurs in the same direction as the replication fork and it’s built continuously.

Lagging Strand

The strand which elongation occurs in the opposite direction of the replication fork. It’s built in pieces, going in the 3’ to 5’ direction. The strand moves in the opposite direction of the movement of DNA helicase.

Okazaki Fragment

Short fragments of nucleotides.

Protein Synthesis

The process in which cells create amino acids using the information given through DNA.

Central Dogma

The idea that genetic information flows in the order of; DNA - RNA - proteins.

Transcription

The process by which a cell makes an RNA copy of a piece of DNA. This copy is called messenger RNA (mRNA), and it carries the genetic information needed to make proteins in a cell.

Translation

The process by which a cell makes proteins using the genetic information carried in messenger RNA (mRNA).

Codon

A sequence of 3 bases of DNA that is the code for one Amino Acid.

RNA Polymerase

The enzyme that copies a DNA sequence into a RNA sequence during the process of transcription.

Antisense Strand

The side of DNA on which mRNA forms.

Sense Strand

The other side of DNA where mRNA does not form.

Ribosome

The place where the process of translation occurs.

mRNA

RNA that is built in the nucleus and contains the code for the construction if amino acids.

rRNA

RNA that makes up the ribosomes-cytoplasmic organelles attached to endoplasmic reticulum which is also the site of protein synthesis.

tRNA

RNA found in the cytoplasm that has clover leaf shaped molecules which are made of multiple nucleotides.

Anticodon

A three base sequence which matches with a three base sequence of mRNA.

Amino Acid Attachment Site

The place where Amino Acids are attached and carried to the mRNA based on the specific sequence as determined by its anticodon.

Genetic Mutation

Sudden changes that occur in ones DNA.

Somatic Cell Mutation

Mutations that occur in body cells which pass on to daughter cells, but do not get passed on to the next generation.

Germ Cell Mutation

Mutations that occur in reproductive cells and will be passed onto the next generation.

Point Mutations

A change within one nucleotide that can have a dramatic effect depending on the specific change.

Insertion

A point mutation where additional nucleotides are added.

Deletion

A point mutation where nucleotides are removed.

Substitution

A point mutation where the wrong nucleotide is put in a spot.

Silent Mutations

A mutation that does not change the protein at all.

Mis-Sense Mutations

A mutation that alters proteins slightly and may work slightly worse or slightly better.

Nonsense Mutations

A mutation that alters a protein in a way that makes it not function as intended. This can have huge consequences.

Chromosomal Mutations

Changes in sections of DNA on a chromosome.

Duplication

When a section of DNA gets repeated on a chromosome.

Inversion

When a section of DNA gets reversed and and added back to the chromosome.

Translocation

When a section of DNA gets moved to a different chromosome.

Nondisjunction

Occurs when chromosomes do not correctly separate during meiosis.

Karyotype

An image of an individual’s set of chromosomes which can be used to diagnose certain chromosomal disorders.

Patau Syndrome

A disorder caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 13 AKA trisomy 13.

Edward Syndrome

A disorder caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 18 AKA trisomy 18.

Turner Syndrome

A genetic disorder that affects females and is caused by the absence or abnormalities of one of the X chromosomes.

Klinefelter Syndrome

A genetic condition that affects males and is caused by an extra X chromosome resulting in an XXY pattern.

Jacobs Syndrome

A genetic condition also known as XYY syndrome that affects males. It occurs when there is an extra Y chromosome.

Genetic Engineering

The manipulation of genetic material to alter genes and blend plant, animal, and bacteria DNA.

DNA Sequencing

The process in which we can tell the exact sequence of a piece of DNA down to the individual nucleotide letters.

Human Genome Project

A huge worldwide project that determined the sequence of nearly 3 billion base basman gen

Recombinant DNA

A molecule of DNA that includes genetic material from different sources.

Restriction Enzymes

Enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of DNA at specific nucleotide sequences.

Transgenic Organisms

Organisms that have been genetically engineered to contain DNA from another organism.

Polymerase Chain Reaction

The process by which DNA can be copied many times to produce a large number of identical DNA molecules.

Gel Electrophoresis

A genetic technology used to separate fragments of DNA according to their sizes.

DNA FIngerprint

A unique pattern of of DNA sequences that can be used to identify an individual.

CRISPR-Cas9

A type of CRISPR enzyme that is used to recognize and clear certain strands of DNA that are complementary to the CRISPR sequence.

Microevolution

Evolution on a small scale.

Macroevolution

Evolution on a large scale, eventually leading to speciation.

Adaptation

A structural, behavioral, or physiological trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment. They are the result of gradual changes in genetic traits in members of a species over time.

Variation

The differences in the genetic makeup or phenotype of various organisms.

Selective Advantage

Any characteristic that improves an organism's chance of survival within its environment.

Artificial Selection

A type of selective breeding that is used to obtain varieties of plants or animals with desired traits. Traits we want to reproduce and those we don’t are actively selected for continuation or removal.

Natural Selection

The process which results when the characteristics of a population of organisms change because individuals with certain inherited traits survive specific local environmental conditions and, through reproduction, pass down their traits to their offspring.

Selective Pressure

Any reason for organisms to have either a survival benefit or disadvantage.

Creationism

The idea that God created everything perfectly in an unchanging form.

Georges-Louis Leclerc

The first scientist to challenge the idea that all life forms are unchanging. Also known as Compte de Buffon.

Mary Anning

An english fossil collector, famous for her discoveries in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel.

Georges Cuvier

The man credited with discovering the science of Paleontology.

Paleontology

The branch of science concerned with fossils.

Catastrophism

The idea of destructive natural events that led to mass extinction.

Charles Lyall

The man who introduced the idea the earth is slowly and continuously changing; Uniformitarianism.