DNA Replication

A detailed Summary of DNA Replication

Where did we come from? How did we emerge from the Earth? Why do twins look so alike? The answers to these questions lay in the scientific field of molecular genetics. More specifically, these answers can be answered in the study of DNA. DNA, the blueprint for life, determines what color hair and eyes we have. In this essay, we will observe how DNA replicates itself, the process making proteins, and gene regulation.

DNA must duplicate itself in order to form complete copies of the genetic material. DNA replication is a complex task. DNA strands and anti parallel. First, helicase uncoils DNA and cleaves into a replication fork the DNA strand into two strands that are held stable apart by single-strand protein. RNA primase is used to add the first nucleotides because polymerase can only add to growing strands. Because DNA is anti-parallel, the two strands are different. There is a lead strand and a lagging strand. Polymerase can only add in the corresponding nucleotides in a 5'-3' direction so only the leading end is constructed continuously. The lagging strand is in a 3'-5' direction and must require Okazaki fragments to attach to the corresponding code and be joined by DNA ligase so that the lagging

strand becomes an identical DNA strand like the leading strand. The results are 2 identical DNA strands that came from the original parent strand. This process is semiconservative because the two resulting strands contain parts of the old strand. The old strands are split and the new base pairs are added to the leading and lagging such that the original strand becomes part of the two new DNA strands.

DNA contains all our genetic information which tells who we are and has blueprints for our functions. However, like money, DNA isn't worth anything unless you use it to create mRNA which creates proteins that run our life. The creation of proteins occurs in two steps: transcription and translation. In eukaryotic cells, the cell is divided by the nucleus with the DNA material. Inside the nucleus, transcription occurs. The DNA is split by helicase and then copied by RNA polymerase to create mRNA. When DNA is transcripted, the code is longer than needed for translation. Thus, the initial mRNA also known as hnRNA is consisted of exons and introns. Exons are the sequence code that are kept for the code while introns are excised by splicesomes and the adjacent exons are combine together. In this way, hnRNA is processed within the nucleus and shorten to the essential code, exons, that are translated for protein synthesis. In addition to shortening the hnRNA, a chain of TATA sequences are attached to the 5' end and a poly-a tail is attached to the 3' end of the mRNA. This allows for the identification in the cytosol of where the sequence b

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1037
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science