DNA Worksheet

SCI/230 Version 7

Associate Program Material

DNA Worksheet
Answer the 3 following questions in at least 100 words each:
1. Describe the structure of DNA including the terms nucleotides, sugar, phosphate, bases,
hydrogen bonds and double helix.
A DNA molecule is made up of long chains of monomers and polymers that are known as
nucleotides. The grouping of the nucleotides into the polynucleotides then forms these
two chains in particular which composes of DNA strain. DNA is a double-stranded
structure that is also described as a double helix. A double helix is like a spiral staircase
where every step symbolizes the base pairs and the railings, and sides illustrate the
bonding between the sugar phosphate and deoxyribose molecules which is connected to
a complementary strand by hydrogen bonding between paired bases, adenine with
thymine and guanine with cytosine.
2. How does an organisms genotype determine its phenotype? Include the terms genes
and proteins. What is the genetic code?
The genotype of the organism is the genetic makeup of that particular pair of genes
possesses, its the nucleotide base in the organisms DNA. The phenotype is considered
the physical traits of the organism, which comes from the actions of a wide variety of
proteins. Structural proteins help make up the structure of an organism and the enzymes
catalyze the metabolic activities. Protein is not built by a gene, but it gives the instructions
to do so in the form of RNA, which in turn programs the synthesis of the protein. This
molecular chain of command is from DNA in the nucleus to RNA to protein synthesis in
the cytoplasm. The two main stages are transcription, the transfer of genetic information
from DNA into an RNA molecule, and translation, the transfer of the information from RNA
into a protein.
3. Describe each stage of the flow of genetic information in cells starting with DNA and
ending with a trait, including the terms transcription, translation, RNA, cytoplasm,
ribosome, polypeptide and proteins. What is the overall significance of this process?
Genes are what carry our traits thought generations and our genes are made up of DNA,
but the genes act as an instruction manual for producing functioning molecules like RNA
and protein. DNA contains the instructions for building a protein. DNA transfers the
instructions to an RNA molecule in a process called transcription then moves out into the
cytoplasm, where it is read and the protein is assembled and translation occurs. From the
cytoplasm, it is converted in to the specific amino acid sequence of a protein. An amino
acid sequence is simply the order of these units in a polypeptide chain. In the case of
proteins, the sequence determines the molecules three-dimensional structure, which in
turn is crucial to the proteins function. The sequences of amino acids in the proteins
found in a living organism are coded in that organisms DNA.
Reference: Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology, Third Edition, by Eric J. Simon, Jane B.
Reece, and Jean L. Dickey. Published by Benjamin Cummings

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