Biotechnology

• Gregor Mendel


  First to suggest that characteristics are passed down from generation to generation. The father of Genetics.
• Friedrich Miescher


  Discovered the "nuclein", identified the "nuclein" by isolating a molecule from a cell nucleus that would later become known as DNA.
• Albrecht Kosell


  Identified nuclein as NUCLEIC ACID, Isolated nitrogenous bases, which led him to win a Nobel Prize for Physiology and Chemistry.
• Walther Flemming


  First biologist to study the division of chromosomes, Discovered mitosis
• Theodor Boveri and Walter Sutton

  Coined the Chromosomal Theory of Inheritance, Genes are found at specific locations and behave randomly, Their findings are fundamental in understanding how chromosomes carry genetic material and pass it down from one generation to the next.
• Archibald Edward Garrod


  Observed the genetic diseases that were coherent with Mendelian theory, Introduced alkaptonuria [ protein abnormality ] and albinism [ melanin abnormality ]
• Phoebus Levene


  Discovered deoxyribose ( DNA sugar ), identified the components DNA- bases adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G) in addition to a sugar molecule (deoxyribose) and a phosphate group
• Oswald Avery


  First outlined DNA as the transforming principle, which essentially means that it's DNA, not proteins, that transform cell properties.
• Erwin Chargaff


  Discovered that DNA is responsible for heredity and that it varies between species, Chargaff's Rules - Pyrimidines (Adenine - Thymine, Guanine - Cytosine) are the same in double stranded DNA, and DNA varies among species.
• Barbara McClintock


  Discovered the mobility of genes (Gene Transposition / Jumping Gene)
• Rosalind Franklin


  Work in X-ray crystallography began when she started taking X-ray diffraction photographs of DNA.
• James Watson and Francis Crick

  Published on DNA's double helix structure that twists to form the ladder-like structure we think of when we picture DNA.
• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)


  A nucleic acid macromolecule that carries the genetic information of an organism
• DNA


  • Type of Molecule: Macromolecule
  • Family: Nucleic Acid
  • Parts: Nitrogenous Base, Phosphate Group, Deoxyribose
  • Sugar Found: Deoxyribose
  • Electric Charge: Negative
• DNA Locations (For Eukaryotic Organisms)

  • Cellular Nucleus
  • Mitochondria
• Nuclear DNA


  The DNA found in the cellular nucleus
• mtDNA or Mitochondrial DNA

  The DNA found in mitochondria
• Nucleotide


  A unit of DNA composed of a nitrogenous base, sugar, and phosphate group
• Nitrogenous Bases


  • Adenine
  • Thymine
  • Cytosine
  • Guanine
• Sugar


  Deoxyribose
• Base Pair


  Two complementary DNA nucleotide bases that pair together to form a "rung of the DNA ladder"
• DNA Structure


  • A twisted ladder, described as a double-helix
• DNA Composition


  • Sugar-Phosphate Backbone: Deoxyribose + Phosphate Group
  • Nitrogenous Bases: Purines (Adenine, Guanine) and Pyrimidines (Cytosine, Thymine)
• Chargaff Rule: The DNA of any cell from any organism should have a 1:1 ratio of purine and pyrimidine bases
• Adenine pairs with Thymine, Guanine pairs with Cytosine
• DNA Equation


  Presents the percentage of nitrogenous bases in one DNA: DNA = (A + T) + (G + C)
• The sum of Adenine and Thymine will always be greater than the sum of Cytosine and Guanine: (A + T) > (G + C)
• (A + T) + (G + C) = 100%
• (A = T) (G = C) - the percent value of Adenine is the same as Thymine, and the percent value of Guanine will always be equal to Cytosine
• RNA (Ribonucleic Acid)


  A nucleic acid used in protein synthesis
• RNA


  • Sugar: Ribose
  • Nitrogenous Bases: A, U, G, C
  • Phosphate Group
• Types of RNA


  • mRNA - Messenger RNA
  • tRNA - Transfer RNA
  • rRNA - Ribosomal RNA
• DNA


  Acid: Deoxyribonucleic

  Function: Replicates and stores genetic information. It is a blueprint for all genetic information contained within an organism.

  Strand: Double Helix

  Sugar: Deoxyribose

  Bases: A, T, G, C

  Base Pairs: A-T, G-C

  Location: Nucleus, Mitochondria

  Central Dogma Use: DNA Replication
• RNA


  Full Name: Ribonucleic Acid

  Function: Converts the genetic information contained within DNA to a format used to build proteins and then moves it to ribosomal protein factories.

  Strand: Single

  Sugar: Ribose

  Bases: A, U, G, C

  Base Pairs: A-U, G-C

  Location: Nucleolus, Cytoplasm

  Central Dogma Use: Transcription, Translation
• Central Dogma


  It describes the 'flow' of genetic information - which is usually passed from the DNA code, to the RNA messenger, to the final protein product.
• Francis Crick coined the term the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology
• Terms to Remember


  • Directionality
  • Replication
  • Transcription
  • Translation
  • Codon
• Codon


  A triadic set of nitrogenous bases

  DNA Codon (e.g. ATA, CCC, TCA)

  RNA Codon (e.g. UAU, GGG, UGU)