molecular genetics vocab

Base pair

the two nitrogenous bases, either adenine pairing with thymine or guanine pairing with cytosine, that are joined by a hydrogen bond and create a "rung" on the DNA ladder

Chromosome

a single strand of DNA tightly coiled around special proteins

Francis Crick and James Watson

the two scientists who discovered the structure and shape of DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

a long molecule in the shape of a double helix and made up of nucleotides; contains genetic "instructions"

Gene

a section of DNA that carries the information on how to make one protein

Hydrogen bond

the type of weak bond found between the complementary base pairs in a strand of DNA

Nitrogenous base

the part of DNA that makes up the "rungs" of the ladder like structure; the four nitrogenous bases found in DNA are adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C)

Nucleotide

the type of molecule that makes up DNA and RNA; contains a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base

Nucleotide sequence

the order of nucleotides that determines which protein is made

Protein synthesis

the biological process of building proteins based on DNA instructions

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology

information is transferred from DNA to RNA to proteins, but once the information is in the form of a protein, the transfer cannot be reversed

DNA replication

the process of copying a strand of DNA

Anticodon

the sequence of three nucleotides on transfer RNA that pairs with the codons of messenger RNA

Codon

a sequence of three nucleotide bases that represent the code for one amino acid

Messenger RNA (mRNA)

a type of RNA that transfers the code from DNA in the nucleus to the cytoplasm

Peptide bond

the bond between each amino acid in a protein

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA)

a type of RNA that "reads" the codons from messenger RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

a single strand of nucleotides; different types are used to translate instructions from DNA into making proteins

RNA polymerase

the enzyme responsible for creating RNA from a DNA template

Stop codon

a sequence of three nucleotide bases that indicates the end of protein synthesis

Transcription

the process occurring in the nucles of a cell that copies the instructions from a part of DNA onto a strand of messenger RNA

Transfer RNA (tRNA)

a type of RNA that carries an amino acid and transfers it to the protein chain being assembled in the ribosome

Translation

the process occurring in the cytoplasm of a cell that builds proteins