Basics
This nitrogenous base is found exclusively in RNA, replacing Thymine
Uracil (U)
This core concept describes the standard flow of sequence information from DNA to RNA to protein
Central Dogma of molecular biology
A sequence of three consecutive nucleotides in mRNA that specifies a particular amino acid or translation signal
Codon
In 1869, this Swiss scientist isolated a substance called "nuclein" from white blood cells, discovering DNA as a substance
Friedrich Miescher
Diagnostic laboratory technique used to amplify a specific DNA region across repeated temperature cycles
What is PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)
The three chemical components that make up a single DNA nucleotide
Phosphate group, deoxyribose sugar, and nitrogenous base
The enzyme that unwinds the DNA double helix during replication by disrupting hydrogen bonds between complementary bases
Helicase
This specific codon serves as the universal start codon and codes for methionine
AUG
The famous 1952 X-ray diffraction photograph that provided definitive evidence of DNA's helical structure
Photo 51
A small circular DNA molecule commonly found in bacteria into which human genes can be inserted for genetic engineering
Plasmid
According to complementary base pairing in DNA, Adenine always pairs with this base
Thymine (T)
DNA replication is described as semi-conservative because each resulting DNA molecule contains one original strand and this
one newly synthesized strand
Out of the 64 total possible codons in the genetic code, exactly this many function as stop codons
UAA, UAG, UGA
The doctoral student who produced Photo 51 alongside Rosalind Franklin at King's College London
Raymon Gosling
The specific type of DNA mutation where one nucleotide is replaced by another
Substitution
The specific five-carbon sugar found in RNA molecules
Ribose
In eukaryotic cells, transcription takes place inside this organelle
nucleus
This property of the genetic code means that several different codons can specify the exact same amino acid
Degenerate (or redundant)
The three researchers awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the molecular structure of nucleic acids
James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins
Organisms that produce organic molecules from inorganic carbon sources like $\text{CO}_2$ using light or chemical energy
Autotrophs
This type of RNA delivers specific amino acids to the ribosome during protein synthesis
tRNA (transfer RNA)
If an original DNA strand has the sequence A–T–G–C, its complementary DNA strand produced during replication will be this sequence
What is T–A–C–G
The three sequential stages shared by both transcription and translation processes
Initiation, Elongation and Termination
The two scientists who performed experiments in 1952 providing strong proof that DNA, rather than protein, carries genetic information
Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
The three steps of a PCR temperature cycle in chronological order
Denaturation, Annealing and Extension