Studied by 38 people
chromatin
NON-DIVIDING long strands of DNA that hold/carry genes
genes
provides information about who we are
ex. hair color, eye color
allele
half of a gene (meaning 1 half from mom or dad)
zygote
fertilized egg
centromere
the point where to chromosomes meet and connect
telomere
the cap found at the end of each chromosome arm
used to protect the chromosome when it duplicates but, it becomes shorter each duplication
DNA and mtDNA
DNA = composed of nucleotides and looks like a twisted ladder
mtDNA = DNA found in the mitochondria that comes from the maternal (mother) side
phosphate group
PO3H2
nitrogenous bases
Adenine (A)
Cytosine (C)
Guanine (G)
Thymine (T)
what does every chromosome have?
2 matching strands, a phosphate group, sugar on the outside, nitrogenous base in the center.
Watson, Crick, Wilkins, and Franklin
4 scientists produced a 1 page paper explaining DNA and proving that it has a helical shape
they won the nobel prize in 1962 (franklin didn’t get it because she died)
how did this experiement become possible?
Franklin (the best scientist in her field) received an x-ray of crystallography
chargaff’s rule
scientific bases are always paired with other specific bases
Adenine to Thymine
Cytosine to Guanine
somatic chromosomes
non gender cells
for example: bones and blood cells
gender chromosomes
female = XX, male = XY
histones
wrap around DNA to protect it
karyotypes
a chromosomal map that is used to study gender chromosomes
long arm
the longest part of the chromosome from the centromere “q”
short arm
shortest part of the chromosome from the centromere “p”
