functioning in the cell. Expressed genes are transcribed into different types of RNA, of which mRNA is the only type that is translated into proteins. Gene expression provides information about how a gene functions and how it is different from other genes. DNA microarrays can be used to compare gene expression in different populations of cells. Cells have different gene expression patterns and levels. (Microarrays & Regulation)
Computer science plays an essential role in biology. With biology becoming an information science, new high-throughput technology is needed. The shift to high throughput technologies in biology has led to an explosion of genomic data.
DNA is transcribed into RNA (rRNA, rNA, snRNA, mRNA) through a process known as RNA transcription. mRNA is translated into polypeptides which then fold into 3-D protein structures through a mechanism called protein translation. An organism consists of different types of proteins.
\ue001Nitrogen base
\ue000Adenine (A)
\ue000Guanine (G)
\ue000Cytosine (C)
\ue000Thymine (T) or Uracil (U)
Nucleic acids are linear, unbranched polymers of nucleotides. While RNA is single-stranded, DNA consists of two strands, which run in opposite directions to each other anti-parallel. The strands are joined together by pairing the nitrogenous bases (Watson & Crick base pairs). DNA and RNA are read from the 3\u2019 to the 5\u2019 end. This is related to the numbers on the ribose ring.
Three nucleotides of an mRNA strand form a codon that specifies one amino acid. This makes sense because a codon made from only one or two nucleotides would not produce enough combinations (codons) to code for all 20 of the known amino acids.
\ue0011 nucleotide = 4 possible codons
\ue0012 nucleotides = 4 * 4 possible codons
\ue0013 nucleotides = 4 * 4 * 4 possible codons = 64 possible codons for 20 amino acids
Since a three-nucleotide codon produces 64 possible combinations and there are only 20 known amino acids, this implies redundancy or degeneracy in the genetic code where several different codons specify the same amino acid. The parsimony principle \u2013 that the simplest solution is often right \u2013 rules out a four-nucleotide codon.
