Download James Bond Cellular Spy - UNC

Biologic Logic Explore Activity: James Bond Cellular Spy (Protein Synthesis)
Time: 50 minutes
Adapted from: National Association of Biology Teachers’ presentation (1999), via
Idaho State University –
isu.edu/biolearn/Lesson%20Plans/thecell/lessonplans/LessonCellular_Spy.html
Objectives:
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•
•
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The students will more fully understand the process of transcription and
translation by becoming part of the cell.
The students will be able to translate an amino acid sequence to create a protein.
The students will understand why decoding an amino acid sequence is so
important in real life situations.
They will be able to identify what a mutation is and why it happens.
Materials: Colored beads to represent amino acids. One bead of each color for every
group.
Arginine (Arg)........................... White
Cysteine (Cys)........................... Black
Lysine (Lys).............................. Red
Proline (Pro).............................. Green
Tyrosine (Tyr)...........................Yellow
Methionine (Met)...................... Blue
Valine (Val)............................... Purple
Phenylalanine (Phe)...................Orange
Lab Activity:
The students will be working in groups. Begin this activity by addressing the students as
cellular spies; tell them their mission is to secretly crack a DNA code. Each group will
approach “M”(the teacher) to receive their specific “mission” or assignment, which is to
crack a specific code (see codes, below). The decoding must be done secretly and in
complete silence (see decoding chart below).
Once the code has been cracked and the sequence solved the group will move around the
room (cytoplasm) finding beads that match certain amino acids. They will connect these
beads until they have created their full protein (bead color chart attached). Once this
mission has been completed they must return the decoded sequence to “M” to see if they
have been successful in their mission. If so they will be rewarded. (reward may vary) If
their mission was not completed successfully it is up to them to find the missing link.
Have fun and keep it secret.
Codes to Crack
1.
TACGCGCATTTCGCCATGAAGACATTTATTCTGCTTCTC
2.
TACGGATCTTTCAAAGGTCATTTTATTATC
3.
TACTTCGGTATAGGGACAGCTCATATAAAGATCATTGGT
GGA
4.
TACTTTGCGATGATAACACAACACAAGACTATC
5.
TACATGATTACTTTCTCTGCAATATCCACGACATTCACGG
GGATT
6.
TACATGGCGGAGGCGGAACGAAGTCTATATACTTTCAGA
TTATC
Decoding Chart
First
Position
U
C
A
G
U
phe
phe
leu
leu
leu
leu
leu
leu
ile
ile
ile
met
val
val
val
val
C
ser
ser
ser
ser
pro
pro
pro
pro
thr
thr
thr
thr
ala
ala
ala
ala
SecondPosition
A
tyr
tyr
end
end
his
his
gin
gin
asn
asn
lys
lys
asp
asp
glu
glu
G
cys
cys
end
trp
arg
arg
arg
arg
ser
ser
arg
arg
gly
gly
gly
gly
Third
Position
U
C
A
G
U
C
A
G
U
C
A
G
U
C
A
G