prelim Flashcards
what is the DNA structure?
made up of two strands twisted to form a double helix
how are the two strands of DNA held together?
weak hydrogen bonds between the bases
what are the base pairings?
Adenine-Thymine , Cytosine-Guanine
what is DNA made up of?
subunits called nucleotides
what is a nucleotide made up of?
3 parts; A base, A phosphate and a deoxyribose sugar
what is PCR?
it is a way of making many copies of target regions of DNA
what is stage 1 of PCR?
DNA is heated to between 92° and 98° to separate the two strands (DNA is denatured)
what is stage two of PCR?
DNA is cooled to between 50 and 65°C to allow primers to bind (anneal) to target sequences
what is stage 3 of PCR?
DNA is heated to between 70 and 80°C for heat-tolerant DNA polymerase to replicate the region of DNA
what is transcription?
transcription is the name of the process in which a copy of DNA is made
what is the copy of DNA made from transcription called?
messenger RNA (mRNA)
where does transcription occur?
the nucleus
what is translation?
mRNA which has been transcribed is translated into proteins by ribosomes in the cytoplasm
what is a triplet of bases on mRNA called?
a codon
what is a non coding region of DNA called?
an intron
what is a coding region of DNA called?
an exon
what is a mutation?
a random change in DNA structure/mass
what is a mutagenic agent?
a mutagenic agent increases the frequency of mutation
example of a mutagenic agent
mustard gas, radiation
what is a single gene mutation?
Single gene mutations involve a change in one of the base pairs
single gene mutation types
deletion, insertion, substitution
what is a frameshift mutation?
Frameshift mutations cause all of the codons and all of the amino acids after point of mutation to be changed
types of frameshift mutations
insertion, deletion
improving reliability of an experiment
complete experiment more than once and calculate an average
