GENOME: an organism’s complete set of genetic material Humans ~3 billion base pairs CHROMOSOME: Part of the genome; structure that holds tightly wound DNA around proteins

GENE: part of a chromosome A sequence of DNA that encodes for a protein - several to hundreds of nucleotides in length CODON: Part of a gene; three nucleotides that code for an amino acid

T G A C G A T A C C G G A A G G G T C A G T G G A T A A T T A T C A C T DNA A C U G C U A U G G C C U U C C C A G U C A C C U A U U A A U A G U G A mRNA Protein fragment MET ALAPHEPROVALTHRTYR

RIBOSOME mRNA

S2ls

RIBOSOME mRNA Protein Strand 1. mRNA enters the RIBOSOME and is read a CODON at a time (three base pairs at a time) 2. A protein strand is created one amino acid at a time.

tRNA are molecules that have single amino acids attached to them 3. When the code on the tRNA matches up with the correct codon of the mRNA, the molecule is brought into the ribosome

4. As a molecule of tRNA enters, its amino acid is attached to the growing chain of amino acids 5. A growing chain of amino acids forms a protein 6. Empty tRNA leave the ribosome Final protein shape is determined by the polarity of the amino acids and their order - hydrophobic = inside- hydrophilic = outside

A single base pair is substituted for another

DNAG G T C A A T A C C G T T T A mRNAC C A G U U A U G G C A A A U Protein PRO VAL MET ALA ASN T A ASP G C NO CHANGE

A single base pair is substituted for another A single base pair is either added to or removed from the segment

DNAG G T C A A T A C C G T T T A mRNAC C A A G U U A U G G C A A A Protein PRO VAL MET ALA ASN T SER TYR GLY LYS mRNAC C A G U U A U G G C A A A U