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THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF LIFE. Chapter 3. Human Genome Project. In 1990 an effort began to sequence the entire human genome, which consists of some 3 billion bases comprising approximately 25,000 to 30,000 genes. The goal was achieved in 2003.
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THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF LIFE Chapter 3
Human Genome Project • In 1990 an effort began to sequence the entire human genome, which consists of some 3 billion bases comprising approximately 25,000 to 30,000 genes. • The goal was achieved in 2003. • Scientists are still several years away from identifying the functions of many of the proteins produced by these genes.
Human…Neanderthal? Genome Project • The Neanderthal Genome has been sequenced. • Read the press release from the Max Planck Society here SvantePaabo and a Neanderthal skull
Evolutionary significance • Tiny differences in protein-coding sequences may explain why humans are susceptible to diseases like cholera, malaria, and influenza while chimpanzees apparently are not.
Genetics • The study of gene structure and action, and the patterns of inheritance of traits from parent to offspring. • Genetic mechanisms are the foundation for evolutionary change. Human Genome Project Overview of Genetics
The Cell • Cells are the basic units of life in all living organisms. • In some forms, such as bacteria, a single cell constitutes the entire organism. • Complex life forms (multicellular), such as plants and animals, are made up of billions of cells.
Cells • Life on earth can be traced back 3.7 billion years to single celled organisms, such as bacteria and blue-green algae. • Eukaryotic cells, structurally complex cells, appeared 1.2 billion years ago. • A three-dimensional structure composed of carbohydrates, lipids (fats), nucleic acids, and proteins
Cells • Somatic cells – celllular components of body tissues, such as muscle, bone, skin, nerve, heart, and brain • Gametes – sex cells involved in reproduction and not important as structural components of the body • Egg cells produced in female ovaries • Sperm cells produced n male testes • Zygote – union of sex cells to form the potential of developing into a new individual; in this way gametes transmit genetic information from parent to offspring.
DNA Structure • For a cell to work, it needs DNA to direct it. • An organism’s inheritance depends on the structure and function of DNA. • DNA is composed of two chains of nucleotides, comprising a double strand or double helix. • A nucleotide consists of a sugar, a phosphate, and one of four nitrogenous bases…
DNA Structure • Nucleotides form long chains. • The two chains are held together by bonds formed on their bases with their complement on the other chain. • Guanine(G) is the complement of Cytosine(C) • Adenine (A) is the complement of Thymine(T)
The DNA Molecule • James Watson (left) and Francis Crick in 1953 with their model of the structure of the DNA molecule.
DNA Replication • Cells multiply by dividing, making exact copies of themselves and enabling organisms to grow and injured tissues to heal. • Inside the cell, the DNA must replicate itself first before the cell can split apart.
Enzymes • Replication begins when enzymes break the bonds between bases throughout the DNA molecule, separating two previously joined strands of nucleotides and leaving their bases exposed… Enzyme
The DNA Replication Process • Enzymes break the bonds between the DNA molecule, creating two nucleotide chains that need complementary nucleotides. • Unattached nucleotides pair with the appropriate complementary nucleotide.