DNA Replication
This enzyme unzips the DNA helix by breaking hydrogen bonds between base pairs.
Answer: What is Helicase?
This fundamental biological principle describes how genetic information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins in all life forms.
Answer: What is the Central Dogma of Biology?
This three-step process involves reading a DNA sequence and synthesizing the mRNA complement.
Answer: What is Transcription?
This fundamental concept describes the process of converting the information in DNA to RNA and then to proteins.
Answer: What is the Central Dogma?
This term describes the set of all genes in an organism.
Answer: What is a genome?
This process of DNA replication follows a model where the original strand creates two templates, quickly creating two DNA molecules from one.
Answer: What is semi-conservative replication?
This remarkable genetic phenomenon means that a gene from one organism, like a jellyfish, can potentially be translated in another organism, such as a cat.
Answer: What is the universal genetic code?
In the initiation stage of transcription, this special sequence signals where the RNA polymerase should begin transcribing.
Answer: What is a promoter?
In eukaryotes, this is the most important level of gene regulation, as it can completely turn off or modulate the entire gene expression process.
Answer: What is transcriptional regulation?
These proteins bind to genes to regulate expression in eukaryotes.
Answer: What are transcription factors?
These are the fragments of DNA synthesized on the lagging strand during DNA replication that are later joined together.
Answer: What are Okazaki fragments?
These three-nucleotide sequences code for the 20 common amino acids used by most organisms.
Answer: What are codons?
During the elongation phase, this enzyme reads one strand of DNA and builds mRNA, opening and closing about 10-20 base pairs at a time.
Answer: What is RNA polymerase?
This process creates one long mRNA which is translated into 5 polypeptides in prokaryotes like E. coli.
Answer: What is transcription?
In prokaryotes, this protein physically blocks the operator and stops RNA polymerase from binding.
Answer: What is a repressor?
These protective DNA sequences repeat at the ends of chromosomes and do not code for anything important, acting as a buffer for DNA replication.
Answer: What are telomeres?
This process explains how a single DNA molecule from one chromosome is converted into a functional protein.
Answer: What is gene expression?
This is the final stage of transcription where the process of making mRNA stops, with different mechanisms in bacteria and eukaryotes.
Answer: What is termination?
These sequences promote or signal the beginning of a gene in eukaryotes.
Answer: What are promoters?
This type of regulatory element increases the expression rate of genes and is typically located far from the promoter in eukaryotes.
Answer: What is an enhancer?
This enzyme relieves tension in DNA during replication by breaking a sugar-phosphate bond in one of the strands.
Answer: What is Topoisomerase?
The total number of possible unique codon combinations, given that DNA uses four nucleotides. Answer:
What is 64 (4 possible nucleotides × 4 possible nucleotides × 4 possible nucleotides)?
In eukaryotes, this specific nucleotide sequence (AAUAAA) signals the end of the gene during the termination phase.
Answer: What is the poly-A signal sequence?
This specific transcription factor promotes insulin expression in pancreatic cells.
Answer: What is PDX-1?
In E. coli, these five genes code for enzymes that produce this amino acid.
What is the amino acid
Answer: What is tryptophan?