DNA REPLICATION
DNA is a molecule that has a repeating chain of identical five-carbon sugars (polymers) linked together from head to tail. It is composed of four ring shaped organic bases (nucleotides) which are Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C) and Thymine (T). It has a double helix shape and contains the sugar component deoxyribose. How DNA replicates is quite a simple process. First, a DNA molecule is "unzipped". In other words, it splits into two strands of DNA at one end of the DNA molecule. This separation will cause a formation of a replication fork. After the replication fork has been established the strands of DNA are ready for the next stage. On each strand is a sequence of nucleotides. These nucleotides act as a template for complementary nucleotides to bind. Hence, it is the site where the synthesis of a new complementary strand will be formed. Because of the DNA "unzipping", there will be two single strands of DNA. Hence, because there is two single strands of DNA, there will be two new daughter strands synthesized. However, each of these daughter cells is synthesized in different ways. The first strand of DNA is built by simply adding nucleotides t
Maurice Wilkens was born in the year 1916 and is a British biochemist. Born in Pongaroa, New Zealand, he is currently the deputy director of biophysics research unit at the Medical Research Council. He attended the University of London from the years of 1955 to 1974 and was awarded the Noble Prize in 1962 for the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA. The third discovery Chagraff made was that the amount of adenine plus thymine often differs greatly from the amount of guanine plus cytosine. RELATIONSHIPS OF THE NITROGENOUS BASES The second strand is built by having a polymerase jump ahead on the strand and fill in the complementary nucleotides backwards. This strand moves in the outward direction, hence away from the replication fork. The DNA polymerase for this strand starts a burst of synthesis at the point of the replication fork. The addition of nucleotides to the 3` end of a short new chain until this new segment fills in a gap of 1000 to 2000 nucleotides between the replication fork and the end of the growing chain to which the previous segment was added. Hence, this new short chain is then added to the growing chain, and the polymerase jumps ahead again to fill in another gap. Thus in short, the polymerase copies the template strand in segments about 1000 nucleotides long and stitches each new fragment to the end of the growing chain. This process of replication is referred to as discontinuous synthesis. In many organisms, DNA is restricted to the cell nucleus, while protein synthesis goes on at the endoplasmic reticulum, a system of membrane-lined tubes in the cytoplasm. Ordinarily attached to the endoplasmic reticulum are the ribosomes, "workbenches" for protein construction. Since the ribosomes are away from the nucleus, the building code must somehow be communicated from DNA to the ribosomes. The second discovery Chagraff made was that the amount of guanine was equal to the amount of cytosine. This is done through ribonucleic acid (RNA). RNA is closely related to DNA and can carry genetic messages. First, DNA unwinds and separates its strands so that complementary strands of RNA can be assembled on them. A strand of so-called messenger RNA (mRNA) then travels out of the nucleus to the ribosomes, where protein synthesis begins. Biotech - www.accessexcellence.org/AB/WYW/wkbooks/SFTS/biography.htm The mRNA strand, like its DNA "parent," contains the total genetic information needed for sequencing amino acids into a particular protein. Imagine a protein containing only the two amino acids A and B strung out in this unvarying sequence: A--B--A--B--A--B (the sequence is deliberately shortened because proteins usually contain several hundred amino acids). A strand of mRNA has the series of complementary base triplets that codes for this sequence. However, another type of RNA called transfer RNA (tRNA) must carry the amino acids to the ribosome for assembly. When the mRNA code calls for amino acid A, the appropriate tRNA carries it in a form ready for peptide bonding with the next amino acid in line. In a peptide bond, the tail-end carbon atom of one amino acid is linked to the nitrogen atom of the next. When the code calls for it, another tRNA carries amino acid B. Bit by b
Some common words found in the essay are:
RNA RNA, STRUCTURE Living, DNA Hence, Francis Crick, GGG CGT, Maurice Wilkens, DNA DNA, Erwin Chagraff, TAACGTA Hence, James Watson, dna molecule, amino acid, amino acids, structure dna, replication fork, francis crick, protein synthesis, strands dna, james watson, discovery chagraff amount, noble prize, structure dna molecule, example nucleotides fit, structures example nucleotides, ringed structures example,
Approximate Word count = 2189
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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