DNATranscription and Translation

DNA—source of information The human genome contains about 3.2

billion base pairs. The information is grouped into genes

—estimated total for the number of human genes range from 20,000 to 35,000.

Most genes code for proteins

RNA RNA is RiboNucleic Acid. DNA is used to make a

complementary strand of messenger RNA.

RNA has 3 differences from DNA:› Uracil substitutes for Thymine› Ribose replaces deoxyribose› Single strand instead of DNA’s double

strand

Uracil Uracil is a pyrimidine. Uracil forms two hydrogen bonds with

Adenine.

Uracil bonding with Adenine Similar geometry to Thymine. Same pattern of hydrogen bonds.

Ribose This sugar is very similar to

deoxyribose found in DNA. Ribose has one more oxygen.

mRNA—single strand mRNA is the template to construct a

protein and needs one strand.

DNA—getting from data to structure

DNA is an information structure To make something the data needs to be

transcribed to a working template. Transcription is the process of copying

DNA to a messenger RNA, mRNA.› In the nucleus

Translation is the process of converting the data sequence in mRNA into amino acids linking together to make a protein.› Out in the cell

Translation mRNA is a single strand that is complementary to one DNA strand of a gene.

mRNA leaves the nucleus and moves to the cytoplasm where proteins are made.

During protein synthesis, ribosome moves along the mRNA, reads the base sequence to translate each 3 base triplet

The triplet is a codon

Amino Acids