Protein synthesis Flashcards
How are proteins made?
By reading the code in DNA
What does DNA control?
The production of proteins (protein synthesis) in a cell
What are proteins made up of?
Chains of molecules called amino acids
What does each protein have?
Its own particular number and order of amino acids
What do amino acid chains do?
They fold up to give each protein a different, specific shape. This means each one can have a different function.
What is a gene?
A section of DNA that codes for a particular protein
What does the order of bases in a gene decide?
The order of amino acids in a protein
How is each amino acid coded for?
Using a sequence of 3 bases in the gene called a codon
How many bases does DNA contain?
4
How many bases does each codon in a gene contain?
3
Why do some codons code for the same amino acid?
There are only 20 amino acids.
How and why are the amino acids joined together?
They are joined together to make proteins following the order of bases in the gene.
How are codons read?
One after the other, they don’t overlap
What is the structure of each gene?
A different sequence of bases. This is what allows it to code for a particular protein.
What does DNA also contain?
Non-coding regions. This means they do not code for any amino acids. Despite this, some of these regions are still involved in protein synthesis.
