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The Language of Biology and the Language of English An explanation of "how genes work" Genetics links - animations, detailed explanations the NHGRI talking glossary of genetics is a great place to look up terms check out chap 12-13 in the book The standard outline of the chapter | an analogy to help understand DNA function A. Characteristics of DNA 1. Griffith's experiment - transformation (fig 12-1) 2. Avery's experiment 3. Hershey and Chase (fig 12-3) 4. DNA structure (p. 344-348); Watson, Crick, and Franklin B. DNA replication (section 12-3) 1. chromosome structure and organization (terms: histones, chromatin) 2. process of replication; role of DNA polymerase C. Protein synthesis 1. RNA vs. DNA 2. Transcription and RNA polymerase 3. RNA editing (fig 13-4) 4. translation and the genetic code (fig 13-5 and 13-6 and 13-7) [make sure you understand fig 13-6 and 13-7!!] 5. mutations a. frameshift - insertion or deletion b. point mutation (replacement/substitution) c. chromosomal mutations - fig 13-11 D. Gene regulation 1. operons in prokaryotes (fig 13-16) 2. eukaryotes (fig 13-17, 13-18, 13-20) We can compare the "language" of DNA to human language to help us understand its function: Letters English -- 26 letters (A - Z) Biology -- 4 letters (A, C, G, T) called nucleotides (see how they match up) Words or Vocabulary English -- immense vocabulary; words from one letter to words with more than 20 letters. Changing the order of the letters changes the meaning. Biology -- 64 "words", three letters apiece, 21 different meanings. The words are called codons, and their meanings are known as amino acids. Changing the order of the letters results in mutation. check out the code Sentences English -- considerable variation in length; meaning of words depends on context to some extent. Changing the order of the words loses or changes the meaning. Biology -- vast variations in length. Meaning of words depends almost entirely on context. sentences composed of genetic codons (in the DNA) are called genes explore a piece of DNA to see the typical parts of a gene sentences composed of amino acids are called proteins. changing the order of the words destroys the meaning -- the protein becomes non-functional. This is called a mutation, and is often the cause of a disease. (more on types of mutations) Stories English: sentences strung together give a single, coherent story Biology: there are often two versions of the story, one version coming from each parent of the organism. Figuring out version of the story gets "told" is the study of dominant and recessive genes. The biological story is the pattern of growth, and development; the anatomy and physiology. So the sentences (proteins) weave together to form a story (a living organism) now, when protein "sentences" begin to work together, we get a coherent story: enzymes regulate cell reactions, such as photosynthesis and respiration, and control the sythesis (making) of other biomolecules (carbohydrates, fats and lipids, and nucleic acids) hormones regulate various processes in the organism, such as growth and the menstrual cycle. other proteins are structural molecules, such as keratin (which forms fingernails and hair) and collagen (which is the connective tissue found in blood vessels and cartilage, and holds the inner organs together). there are many other functions for proteins. Together, they tell the complex of "stories" that make up an organism. Organization English: generally no extraneous words or sentences Biology: most of the "letters" are not part of the "words" or "sentences". In humans, only about 5% of the nucleotides are part of genes. Of the other 95%, often called junk DNA, some is involved regulating when the genes are expressed, but most has no known function. This high percentage of "junk DNA" results from a phenomenon known as "duplication and divergence". Check out a representation of gene/chromosome organization. o in addition, the stories found in biology vary from cell to cell. The story being told in a liver cell, for example, differs significantly from the story being told in a neural (brain) cell, despite the fact that the sequence of letters (DNA) is identical note: this analogy was created by Dr. Al Koop, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Used with permission. The expression of DNA a comparison to transcription and translation of a book English: The situation -- a reference book that is contained in a library must be translated into a new language. The problem -- the translator lives outside the library and cannot get there. The solution: library workers make a copy of the work. Making this copy is called transcription. Then a worker carries the copy to the translator, who translates the book. Biology: The problem: information contained in DNA must travel outside the nucleus in order to make a protein, but the DNA cannot leave. Solution: DNA makes a copy of the appropriate "sentence". The copy is called messenger RNA (mRNA), and the process is called transcription. | check out an animation mRNA travels outside the nucleus to the ribosome, where the RNA sentence is translated into a protein sentence. This process is called translation. The translator is a molecule called transfer RNA (tRNA). Check out the code and tRNA stucture here. | Animation of translation check out this overview of the process Note: many of the links on this page are to the Access Excellence site, operated by the National Health Museum. Go here for information on using these images. Back to top | Genetics links | Biology 520