Gene

• What is the process of gene expression?

  It is the process by which information from a gene is used to synthesize a functional gene product, typically a protein.
• What are the causes and effects of damage to DNA?

  Causes include environmental factors and replication errors, while effects can lead to mutations and diseases.
• What are the building blocks of DNA?

  Nucleotides
• What are the DNA base pairing rules?

  Cytosine pairs with Guanine, and Thymine pairs with Adenine.
• What are the bases of RNA?

  RNA bases are Adenine (A), Uracil (U), Cytosine (C), and Guanine (G).
• How does transcription occur?

  Transcription converts the information stored in DNA into mRNA.
• Where does transcription occur?

  In the nucleus.
• What happens to mRNA after transcription?

  It is processed by removing introns and joining exons.
• What are introns and exons?

  Introns are noncoding regions, while exons are expressed regions of mRNA.
• What is the role of tRNA in translation?

  tRNA carries amino acids to the ribosome and matches them with mRNA codons.
• What is a codon?

  A codon is a set of three nucleotides in mRNA that codes for a specific amino acid.
• What does the genetic code being degenerate mean?

  It means that more than one codon can code for the same amino acid.
• What is a mutation?

  A mutation is any change in the DNA sequence.
• How can mutations affect proteins?

  Mutations can alter the amino acid sequence, potentially affecting the protein's shape and function.
• How do mutations contribute to evolution?

  Mutations are the original source of genetic variation, which is necessary for evolution by natural selection.
• What are the two main steps of gene expression?

  1. Transcription: Converts DNA information into mRNA.
  2. Translation: Builds a protein based on mRNA information.
• What happens during mRNA processing?

  • Introns are removed.
  • Exons are joined together.
  • Mature mRNA is formed before leaving the nucleus.
• What are the effects of point mutations?

  • Base substitution may change a single amino acid.
  • Insertion or deletion can cause a reading frame shift.
  • May lead to early stop codons or altered protein function.
• How does the flow of genetic information occur?

  1. DNA provides instructions for mRNA synthesis.
  2. mRNA specifies the order of amino acids.
  3. Amino acid order determines protein shape and function.