Chapter 7 Bio-Rad

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information. It is a long molecule composed of smaller molecules. It is composed of 6 different smaller molecules (Guanine, Thymine, Cytosine, Adenine, Deoxyribose, Phosphate Group).

RNA

A single-stranded nucleic acid that passes along genetic messages

Gene

sequence of DNA that codes for a polypeptide or RNA molecule

Thymine

a compound that is one of the four constituent bases of nucleic acids. A pyrimidine derivative, it is paired with adenine in double-stranded DNA.

Cytosine

The base that pairs with Guanine with DNA

Guanine

The base that pairs with Cytosine in DNA

DNA replication

The process in which DNA makes a duplicate copy of itself.

Double Helix

The form of native DNA, referring to its two adjacent polynucleotide strands wound into a spiral shape.

Chromosomes

threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes

protein synthesis

the formation of proteins by using information contained in DNA and carried by mRNA

Adenine

The base that pairs with Thymine in DNA

Deoxyribose

A five-carbon sugar that is a component of DNA

Transcription

the proccess of copying a section of dna in order to make proteins

Translation

process that decodes mRNA to produce a protein strand

Ligase

An enzyme that connects two fragments of DNA to make a single fragment

DNA Polymerase

Enzyme involved in DNA replication that joins individual nucleotides to produce a DNA molecule

Codon

three-nucleotide sequence on messenger RNA that codes for a single amino acid

DNA Triplet

a sequence of three nucleotides eg. ATC, that codes for a particular amino acid

Polypeptide

A polymer (chain) of many amino acids linked together by peptide bonds.

Enzyme

A type of protein that speeds up a chemical reaction in a living thing

Nucleotide

Monomer of nucleic acids made up of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base

Complementary base pairing

Hydrogen bonding between particular pyrimidines and purines. Adenine & Thymine. Cytosine & Guanine.

Double helix

The form of native DNA, referring to its two adjacent polynucleotide strands wound into a spiral shape.

Eukaryotic

A cell characterized by the presence of a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Eukaryotes can be unicellular (protists) or multicellular (fungi, plants and animals).

Prokaryotic

An organism whose cells do not have an enclosed nucleus, such as bacteria. Pro NO

Circular chromosome

Often accompanied by smaller rings of DNA called plasmids

Centromere

Region of a chromosome where the two sister chromatids attach

Karyotype

A display of the chromosome pairs of a cell arranged by size and shape.

mRNA

A type of RNA, synthesized from DNA, that attaches to ribosomes in the cytoplasm and specifies the primary structure of a protein.

Exon

A segment of a DNA or RNA molecule containing information coding for a protein or peptide sequence.

Intron

A noncoding, intervening sequence within a eukaryotic gene.

Alpha helix

A spiral shape constituting one form of the secondary structure of proteins, arising from a specific hydrogen-bonding structure.

Tertiary structure

The third level of protein structure; the overall, three-dimensional shape of a polypeptide due to interactions of the R groups of the amino acids making up the chain.

Primary structure

The first level of protein structure; the specific sequence of amino acids making up a polypeptide chain.

Quaternary structure

The fourth level of protein structure; the shape resulting from the association of two or more polypeptide subunits.

Antibodies

Specialized proteins that aid in destroying infectious agents

Down syndrome

A condition of mild to severe intellectual disability and associated physical disorders caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

A technique for amplifying DNA in vitro by incubating with special primers, DNA polymerase molecules, and nucleotides.

Gel Electrophoresis

A process where DNA fragments are separated according to size using electrical charges

DNA sequence

The sequence, or order, in which the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T) are arranged in a gene or a DNA fragment, or in an organism's genome.

Genome

All the genetic information in an organism; all of an organism's chromosomes.

CRISPR/Cas9

A revolutionary gene editing technique derived from the immune system of simple prokaryotes.

Secondary structure

Regions of repetitive coiling or folding of the polypeptide backbone of a protein due to hydrogen bonding between constituents of the backbone (not the side chains).

missense mutation

A point mutation in which a codon that specifies an amino acid is mutated into a codon that specifies a different amino acid.

nonsense mutation

A mutation that changes an amino acid codon to one of the three stop codons, resulting in a shorter and usually nonfunctional protein.

point mutation

gene mutation in which a single base pair in DNA has been changed

deletion mutation

a change in the base sequence of a gene that results from the loss of one or more base pairs in the DNA

insertion mutation

a mutation in which one or more nucleotides are added to a geneinse

BLAST

In bioinformatics, BLAST (basic local alignment search tool) is an algorithm and program for comparing primary biological sequence information, such as the amino-acid sequences of proteins or the nucleotides of DNA and/or RNA sequences

Bioinformatics

application of mathematics and computer science to store, retrieve, and analyze biological data

Protein Data Bank (PDB)

An international database that archives the data describing the three-dimensional structure of nearly all macromolecules for which structures have been published.

Vaccines

A preparation that prevents a person from contracting a specific disease

Chromotography

A physical process used to determine what type of substances have been mixed together

size exclusion chromatography

relies on porous beads; larger molecules elute first because they are not trapped in small pores

phobic

fear

recombinant

DNA produced by combining DNA from different sources

protein electrophoresis

differentiates between protein fractions

affinity

an attraction to

fraction

part of a whole

Cations

positively charged ions

Anion

negative ion

eluted

remove (an adsorbed substance) by washing with a solvent, especially in chromatography.

GenBank

NCBI database of sequences

Accesion Number

Unique identifier used in NCBI database

NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information)

An agency established in 1988 as a national (US) resource for molecular biology information. NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information to better understand molecular processes affecting human health and disease.

Buffer

compound that prevents sharp, sudden changes in pH

colorimetric assay

Measure with color test

assay

to test, analyze

Central Dogma of Biology

DNA -> RNA -> Protein