Candor

27 of April, 2015

DNA Unit Vocabulary

1) Polymer: a chemical compound structured such that small molecules are arranged in patterns to

form a larger molecule.

2) DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid, also the storer of genetic code within earth organisms.

3) Nucleotide: block of nucleic acids, (composed of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and

thymine/uracil, pairs of which are connected to a pentose sugar)

4) Phosphate: an organic compound of phosphoric acid that can be found in DNA connected to

nucleotides

5) Mutation: change to structure within an organic compound such as DNA, where (specifically to

DNA) a base unit can be deleted, inserted, or replaced

6) Cytoplasm: substance between the cell nucleus and membrane

7) Replication: process of making a new copy of a piece or entire strand of DNA

8) mRNA: ribonucleic acid, messenger of DNA replication information for how to synthesize

proteins

9) Transcription: process of making mRNA from a complementary strand of DNA

10) Translation: process of building proteins by attaching amino acids side by side

11) Chromosome: coiled up DNA

12) Genes: the series of nucleotides that make up chromosomes

13) Genome: full set of chromosomes of an organism

14) Double Helix: the structure of DNA, comparable to a twisted ladder

15) Codon: sequence of 3 nitrogenous bases that make up an amino acid

16) Anticodon: sequence of 3 bases in tRNA that are complementary to another sequence of 3

bases in mRNA

17) Base Pairing Rule: principle stating that DNA bonds can be only between adenine and

thymine, or guanine and cytosine

18) DNA Polymerase: enzyme that joins nucleotides to make DNA in DNA replication

19) RNA Polymerase: enzyme that separates DNA during transcription

20) Helicase: enzyme that untwists the DNA double helix during replication

21) tRNA: RNA that transports amino acids to a ribosome to be made into a protein

22) Nitrogenous Base: a pairing of guanine and cytosine, or adenine and thymine/uracil that is

connected to a sugar within DNA

23) Ribose: sugar in RNA nucleotides

24) Ribosome: where proteins are assembled when reading mRNA

25) Nucleic Acid: polymers that have genetic info for constructing an organisms traits

Sentences

1) A chromosome is coiled up DNA.

2) A nucleic acid is a polymer.

3) Codons and anticodons are complementary to one another.

4) RNA Polymerase separates DNA during replication.

5) Phosphates are connected to nucleotides.

6) mRNA transports DNA information to the cells cytoplasm.

7) Genes are sequences of nucleotides.

8) The human genome has 46 chromosomes.