Gene to Protein
The synthesis of a polypeptide using the genetic information encoded in an mRNA molecule. There is a change of “language” from nucleotides to amino acids
What is translation?
A unit of genetic function found in bacteria and phages, consisting of a promoter, an operator, and a coordinately regulated cluster of genes whose products function in a common pathway.
What is an operon?
An infectious particle incapable of replicating outside of a cell, consisting of an RNA or DNA genome surrounded by a protein coat (capsid) and, for some a membranous envelope.
What is a virus?
Determining the complete nucleotide sequence of a gene or DNA segment.
What is DNA sequencing?
An animal without a backbone. They make up 95% of animal species.
What is an invertebrate?
The synthesis of RNA using a DNA template.
What is transcription
Named because of its ring structure, is a common chemical signal that has a diversity of roles, including as a second messenger in many eukaryotic cells, and as a regulator of some bacterial operons.
What is cyclic AMP (cAMP)?
A virus that replicates by transcribing its RNA into DNA and then inserting the DNA into a cellular chromosome, an important class of cancer-causing viruses.
What is a retrovirus?
A technique for amplifying DNA in vitro by incubating it with specific primers, a heat-resistant DNA polymerase, and nucleotides.
What is polymerase chain reaction (PCR)?
An explanation that is broader in scope than a hypothesis, generates new hypotheses, and is supported by a large body of evidence.
What is a theory?
A three-nucleotide sequence of DNA or mRNA that specifies a particular amino acid or termination signal; the basic unit of the genetic code.
What is a codon?
A specific small molecule that binds to a bacterial repressor protein and changes the repressor’s shape so that it cannot bind to an operator, thus switching an operon on
What is an inducer?
An enzyme encoded by certain viruses that uses RNA as a template for DNA synthesis.
What is reverse transcriptase?
An organism that has acquired one or more genes by artificial means.
What is a genetically modified organism (GMO)?
A population or group of populations whose members have the potential to interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring but do not produce viable, fertile offspring with members of other such groups.
What is a species?
An enzyme that links ribonucleotides into a growing RNA chain during transcription, based on complementary binding to nucleotides on a DNA template strand.
What is RNA polymerase?
The process by which a cell or group of cells becomes specialized in structure and function
What is differentiation?
An infectious agent that is a misfolded version of a normal cellular protein. They appear to increase in number by converting correctly folded versions of the protein
What are prions?
A technique for separating nucleic acids or proteins on the basis of their size and electrical charge, both of which affect their rate of movement through an electric field in a gel made of agarose or another polymer.
What is gel electrophoresis?
A form of regulation in which an end product of a process speeds up that process; in physiology, a control mechanism in which a change in a variable triggers a response that reinforces or amplifies the change
What is a positive feedback loop?
A large complex made up of proteins and RNA molecules that splices RNA by interacting with the ends of an RNA intron, releasing the intron and joining the two adjacent exons.
What is a spliceosome?
A normal cellular gene that has the potential to become an oncogene.
What is a proto-oncogene?
A type of phage replicative cycle resulting in the release of new phages by death of the host cell.
What is the lytic cycle?
A DNA molecule made in vitro with segments from different sources.
What is a recombinant DNA molecule?
A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.
What is natural selection?