DNA

"The Blueprint of Life"

DNA stands for...

      DeoxyriboNucleic Acid

DNA FACTS
• established by
James Watson
and Francis Crick 
 
 
 
 
 
• Shape of a double
helix
• codes for your genes  (traits)
• made of repeating subunits called
nucleotides
What is a nucleotide?
Has three parts:   

PHOSPHATE
DEOXYRIBOSE (sugar)
BASE  (A,T,G,C)
Base-Pair Rule
Adenine <==> Thymine

Guanine <==> Cytosine

The sides of the DNA

ladder are phosphate
& sugar

held together by 

hydrogen bonds
Base Pair Rule
One side:     A   T   A      T   C   A      T   G   C      G   G   G

Other side:
How the Code Works
The combination of A,T,G,C determines what
traits you might have, for ex.

C A T C A T   =  purple hair

T A C T A C  =  yellow hair
Think of the bases of DNA like letters.

Letters form words....

Words form sentences....

 
              *endless
               combinations
DNA REPLICATION
the process by which DNA makes a copy of
itself (cell division)

SEMI-CONSERVATIVE - half of the old strand is saved

RNA - the messenger
 
*single strand
*ribose sugar
*contains no thymine, uracil instead
*can leave the nucleus
*follows base pair rule

DNA:   A  T  A   G  C  G
RNA:  
RNA carries the
"message" to the
ribosomes, where
proteins are made
DNA -->  RNA -->  Protein

Proteins are the building

blocks of the organism (traits)
Transcription -  process where RNA is
made from DNA, occurs in the nucleus
of the cell
Translation - process where proteins
are made from RNA, occurs in the
cytoplasm