DNA

• DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. It is has the shape of a double helix.

• It is established by James Watson and Francis Crick.

• These are codes for your genes (traits) and they are made of repeating subunits called nucelotides.

Nucleotide – It has three parts: Phosphate Deoxyribose (sugar), base (A, T, G, C)

Base-Pair Rule

• Adenine –Thymine

• Guanine –Cytosine

• A T A, T C A, T G C, G G G

The sides of the DNA ladder are phosphate and sugar and they are held together by hydrogen bonds.

How does the Code work?

The combination of A, T, G, C determines what traits you might have:

• C A T C A T = purple hair

• T A C T A C = yellow hair

DNA Replication

The process by which DNA makes a copy of itself (cell division)

Semi-Conservative – Half of the old strand is saved.

RNA

• It is called the messenger. It only has a single strand, has ribose sugar. It contains no thymine, but uracil instead. It can leave the nucleus and follows

• Transcription–Process where RNA is made from DNA, occurs in the nucleus of the cell.

• Translation–Process where proteins are made from RNA, occurs in the cytoplasm.