DNAs Discovery and Structure

Honors Objectives SOL.BIO.6f

Todays Objectives:


TSW investigate and understand the common mechanisms of protein synthesis, including the structure of DNA and its discovery.

Our Genetic Code genetic code is a sequence of nucleotides in the __________ of eukaryotic cells.  There are two polymers of nucleic acids, _____ and ______.
 The

Important Scientists that determined DNAs Importance

Frederick Griffith bacterial transformation  Oswald Avery DNA = key to transformation  Alfred Hershey & Martha Chase Bacteriophage transformation experiment  Erwin Chargaff base-pairing rules


Important Scientists in the Race for the Double Helix



Maurice Wilkins & Rosalind Franklin

X-ray diffraction DNA must be a some type of spiral (helix) DNAs diameter is constant and stable Created the first accurate model of DNA Won the Nobel Prize

James Watson & Francis Crick

DNAs Structure
 DNA

is a double helix  DNA contains four nucleotide bases:

adenine (A) cytosine (C) guanine (G) thymine (T)

Chargaffs Rule


The bases form the rungs on the DNA ladder by complementary pairing

A == T C == G T == A G == C A == T T == A

Sugarphosphate backbone

DNA Replication


Replication = Duplication

Happens in the S phase of Interphase Must replicate before mitosis or meiosis I

Part of the double helix is unwound  Replication in small pieces (Okazaki fragments)  Enzyme stitches pieces together later


Semi-Conservative Replication


One-half of each new molecule of DNA is old (template strand) One-half of new molecule of DNA is new (complementary strand)

What is a Gene?
A length of DNA on a chromosome  May be in several parts


Exon the expressed parts of the DNA sequence Intron the intervening, junk DNA, not expressed

Parts are cut, put together and then used to make RNA and proteins

Odd Types of Genes

 Multigene

families  Transposons (Barbara McClintock)  Protective Genes

 Viruses

may give us new DNA that can be kept over time to cause new evolutionary changes!