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Protein Synthesis
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How you are built
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Recipes and DNA act the same way
Both are directions for how to make something
Recipes are directions to make food, DNA are
directions for how to make proteins
Proteins are one of the four building blocks of
the cell
Cookbook of the cell
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A recipe is a list of ingredients
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not the actual ingredients
DNA is just the recipe
The ingredients for a protein are amino acids
Humans have 22 amino acids
Ingredients
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The amino acids called for in the DNA recipe
are linked together in a long chain called a
polypeptide
The polypeptide is folded into a specific shape
The shape determines what protein it is
The protein will become a part of the cell or
part of an organelle
Mixing
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DNA is too big to leave the nucleus
Proteins are made in the ribosomes
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Ribosomes are outside the nucleus
The specific recipe for a specific protein has to
be copied and leave the nucleus
This process is called transcription
Reading the recipe
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Each gene codes for (is a recipe for) a specific
protein
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1 gene = 1protein
Humans have 20,000 genes
All the genes of an organism put together is
called the genome
World’s biggest cookbook
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The cell decides what protein is needed and
the correct gene is identified
The DNA strand is pulled apart
Proteins and enzymes begin to copy the gene
making a single strand of nucleotides called
mRNA
The mRNA leaves the nucleus and finds a
ribosome
The DNA zips back up
Transcription
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mRNA is messenger Ribonucleic Acid
Has 3 differences from DNA
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Is a single strand (DNA has two strands)
Uses a ribose sugar (DNA uses deoxyribose)
Uses uracil, A, G, C (DNA uses thymine, A, G, C)
mRNA