Mod 11

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid, a double helix, double-stranded molecule.

RNA

Ribonucleic acid, a single-stranded molecule.

Watson and Crick

Scientists credited with discovering the double helix shape of DNA.

Roslind Franklin

Scientist who took Photo 51, contributing to the discovery of DNA's structure.

Monomer

A nucleotide, the building block of DNA and RNA.

DNA base pairing

adenine (A) with thymine (T) using 2 hydrogen bonds, and cytosine (C) with guanine (G) using 3 hydrogen bonds.

RNA base pairing

adenine (A) pairs with uracil (U), with no hydrogen bonds.

DNA Replication

The process of duplicating the entire genome, occurring in the nucleus.

Helicase

An enzyme that unzips DNA and breaks hydrogen bonds.

DNA polymerase

An enzyme that adds nucleotides to complementary strands during DNA replication.

Leading strand

The DNA strand that is synthesized continuously.

Lagging strand

The DNA strand that is synthesized in Okazaki fragments, then joined together.

Ligase

An enzyme that glues together Okazaki fragments on the lagging strand.

Central Dogma

The process of DNA -> RNA -> Protein, also known as protein synthesis.

Transcription

The process of converting DNA to RNA in the nucleus.

Translation

The process of converting RNA to protein in the ribosome.

mRNA

Messenger RNA, transcribed from DNA and used in protein synthesis.

tRNA

Transfer RNA, which transports amino acids to the ribosome during protein synthesis.

AUG

The start codon that signals the beginning of protein synthesis.

Gene mutation

A mistake in the DNA sequence that affects nitrogenous bases.

Point mutation

A mutation where only one nucleotide is changed.

Deletion

A mutation where a piece of nucleotides is missing.

Insertion

A mutation where a piece of nucleotides is added.

Mutagen

Any substance or factor that causes a mutation.

Gene Expression

The process of controlling which gene is expressed or silenced.