genes

• a gene is a sequence of DNA bases that codes for a polypeptide or functional RNA
• the sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide forms the primary structure of a protein
• different polypeptides have a different number and order of amino acids. it's the order of bases in a gene that determines the amino acids in a particular polypeptide
• each amino acid is coded for by a sequence of three bases in a gene called a triplet
• to make a polypeptide, first DNA is copied into mRNA
• genes that don't code for a polypeptide code for functional RNA instead
• functional RNA is RNA molecules other than mRNA, ie. tRNA and rRNA
• a cell's genome is the complete set of genes in the cell
• a cell's proteome is the full range of proteins that the cell is able to produce