DNA

1. DNA THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR BUILDING A BODY

2. What Is DNA?  DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid and is the basic substance of heredity. DNA is a set of instructions for building your body and controls everything about the way you look and function.

3. WHERE IS THE DNA STORED? The DNA is stored in the nucleus of nearly all your cells.

4. (Get it…Watson and Crick? What’s in the creek?) What’s in the creek? • In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick figured out the structure of DNA. Their discovery revealed important information about how DNA copies itself.

5. These scientist won a Nobel Prize in 1962 for work on the DNA’s structure. Rosalind Franklin was actually the 1st scientist to produce the pictures of DNA , but died before the Nobel Prize was given.

6. Rosalind Franklin

7. The Structure of DNA A DNA molecule looks like a twisted ladder. Because of its shape, a DNA molecule is often called a “double helix.” A helix is a shape that twists.

8. The DNA “Double Helix” Molecule *Looks like a twisted ladder *The sides of the ladder are made of sugar molecules and phosphates *The rungs of the ladder are formed by pairs of nitrogen bases. Nitrogen bases are molecules that contain the element nitrogen and other elements.

9. Within the nucleus of every cell are long strings of DNA, the code that holds all the information needed to make and control every cell within a living organism.

10. The two sides of the DNA ladder are made up of molecules of a sugar called deoxyribose, alternating with molecules known as phosphates.

11. There are four kinds of nitrogen bases: Adenine (ad uh neen), Thymine (thy meen), Guanine (gwah neen), and Cytosine (sy tuh seen). The capital letters A, T, G, and C are used to represent the four bases.

12. Nitrogen bases • Adenine always pairs with Thymine and Guanine always pairs with Cytosine • Adenine A • Thymine T • Guanine G • Cytosine C • The genetic code is the order of the nitrogen bases and the set of instructions for making a person. • This is known as the HUMAN GENOME

13. The bases on one side of the DNA ladder match up in a specific way with the bases on the other side. Adenine (A) - Thymine (T), Guanine (G) -Cytosine (C) This pairing pattern is the key to understanding how DNA replication occurs.

14. Nucleotide

15. example ATTCGAACGACCTG TAAGCTTGCTGGAC Try your own: GTAACTGGAACTAG CATTGACCTTGATC

16. DNA Replication A cell makes a copy of its DNA during interphase before mitosis occurs. DNA replication ensures that each daughter cell will have all of the genetic information it needs to carry out its activities.

17. During DNA replication, special enzymes move up along the DNA ladder, unzipping the molecule as it moves along.

18. A DNA molecule “unzips” between its paired bases. New bases pair with the base on each strand. As a result, two identical DNA molecules form.

19. When the enzyme has passed the end of the DNA, two identical molecules of DNA are left behind. Each contains one side of the original DNA and one side made of "new" nucleotides.

20. Nucleotides Units which, when linked to sugar, make up one side of the DNA ladder

21. New nucleotides move in and go to each side of the unzipped ladder. The bases on these nucleotides are very particular about what they connect to.

22. Cell division occurs at least 10 million times every second in an adult human body.

23. About 1 trillion mitoses occur in an adult human every 24 hours

24. Mustakes afe boind to happwn! It is possible that mistakes were made along the way -- in other words, that a base pair in one DNA molecule doesn't match the corresponding pair in the other molecule.

25. On average, one mistake may exist in every billion base pairs. That's the same as typing out the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica five times and typing in a wrong letter only once!

26. Let’s check out this DNA activity.A Science Odyssey: You Try It: DNA Workshop