Nucleic acids Reading Activity

DNA - The Double Helix

Recall that the nucleus is a small spherical, dense body in a cell. It is often called the
"control center" because it controls all the activities of the cell including cell reproduction, and
heredity. Chromosomes are microscop ic, threadlike strands composed of the
chemical DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid). In simple terms, DNA controls the
production of proteins within the cell. These proteins in turn, form the structural units of cells
and control all chemical processes within the cell. Think of proteins as the building blocks for
an organism, proteins make up your skin, your hair, and parts of individual cells. The proteins
that are made largely determine how you look. The proteins that will be made for your body
are determined by the sequence of DNA in the nucleus.

________nucleus___ is the instructions for making a cell's _________activities_____.

Chromosomes are composed of genes, which is a segment of DNA that codes for a
particular protein, which in turn codes for a trait. Hence you hear it commonly referred to as
the gene for baldness or the gene for blue eyes. Meanwhile, DNA is the chemical that genes
and chromosomes are made of. DNA is called a nucleic acid because it was first found in the
nucleus. We now know that DNA is also found in some organelles such as the mitochondria
and chloroplasts. It is the DNA in the nucleus that actually controls the cell's workings.

____Genes___ on chromosomes code for specific _____protein______ in a cell.

DNA is also found in ___mitochondria__________ and _____chloroplasts_______.

In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick established the structure of DNA. The shape
of DNA is a double helix, which is like a twisted ladder. The sides of the ladder are made of
alternating sugar and phosphate molecules. The sugar is a pentose called deoxyribose.

What is meant by a double helix? _____________twisted ladder_______________

Name a pentose sugar. _____deoxyibose____________

The sides of DNA are made of ______alternating sugar_______ and _____phosphate

molecules_________.

The rungs of the ladder are pairs of 4 types of nitrogen bases. The bases are known by
their coded letters --- A, G, T, and C. These bases always bond in a certain way. Adenine will
only bond to thymine. Guanine will only bond with cytosine. This is known as the "Base-
Pair Rule." The bases can occur in any order along a strand of DNA. The order of these bases
is the code that contains the instructions. For instance, ATGCACATA would code for a
different gene than AATTACGGA. A strand of DNA contains millions of bases.

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What makes up the "rungs" of DNA? ________Nitrogen bases____________

What will pair with adenine? ______Thymine_______

The DNA helix is actually made of repeating units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide
consists of three molecules: a sugar (deoxyribose), a phosphate, which links the sugars
together, and then one of the four bases. Two of the bases are purines - adenine and
guanine. The pyrimidines are thymine and cytosine. Note that the pyrimidines are single
ringed and the purines are double ringed.

Nucleotides are made of a pentose _____sugar______, a ______phosphate______, and a

nitrogen-containing __________.

Name 2 bases with double C-N rings. __________Purines-Adenin,

Purines_Guanine__________

The two sides of the DNA ladder are held together loosely by hydrogen bonds. The
DNA can actually "unzip" when it needs to replicate - or make a copy of itself. DNA needs to
copy itself when a cell divides, so that the new cells each contain a copy of the DNA. Without
these instructions, the new cells wouldn't have the correct information. The hydrogen bonds
are represented by small circles.

_______Hydrogen_____ bonds between bases must be broken to copy DNA.

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Copying DNA to make two, identical DNA molecule is called _______Cell Divides_____.

Messenger RNA

So, now, we know the nucleus controls the cell's activities through the chemical DNA,
but how? It is the sequence of bases that determine which protein is to be made. The sequence
is like a code that we can now interpret. The sequence determines which proteins are made
and the proteins determine which activities will be performed. This is how the nucleus is the
control center of the cell. The only problem is that the DNA is too big to go through the nuclear
pores so a chemical is used to read the DNA in the nucleus. That chemical is messenger RNA
(mRNA). The messenger RNA (mRNA) is small enough to go through the nuclear pores. It
takes the "message" of the DNA to the ribosomes and "tells them" what proteins are to be
made. Recall that proteins are the body's building blocks. Imagine that the code taken to the
ribosomes is telling the ribosome what is needed - like a recipe.

Messenger RNA is similar to DNA, except that it is a single strand, and it has NO
thymine. Instead of thymine, mRNA contains the base Uracil. In addition to that difference,
mRNA has the sugar ribose instead of deoxyribose. RNA stands for Ribonucleic Acid.

mRNA has a ________single____ strand of nucleotides.

____Uracil______ replaces ____Thymine______ on RNA.

_____Sugar ribose____ is the pentose sugar on RNA.

____mRNA______, not DNA can leave the nucleus through ____the nuclear pores____ in the
nuclear envelope.

Proteins are made at the ______sequence of bases_______.

The Blueprint of Life

Every cell in your body has the same "blueprint" or the same DNA. Like the blueprints
of a house tell the builders how to construct a house, the cellular DNA "blueprint" tells the cell
how to build the organism. Yet, how can a heart be so different from a brain if all the cells
contain the same instructions? Although much work remains in genetics, it has become
apparent that a cell has the ability to turn off most genes and only work with the genes
necessary to do a job. We also know that a lot of DNA apparently is nonsense and codes for
nothing. These regions of DNA that do not code for proteins are called "introns," or
sometimes "junk DNA.” The sections of DNA that do actually code for proteins are called
"exons."

_______itrons___ are non-coding segments of DNA.

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Questions:

1. Write out the full name for DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid

2. What is a gene? Segement of DNA that codes for a particular protein

3. Where in the cell are chromosomes located Nucleus

4. DNA can be found in what organelles in the cell? Nucleus, Mitochondria, Chloroplasts

5. What two scientists established the structure of DNA? James Watson

6. What is the shape of DNA?

7. The sides of the DNA ladder are composed of what?

8. The "rungs" of the DNA ladder are made of what?

9. What sugar is found in DNA? In RNA?

10. How do the bases bond together?

A bonds with _____ G bonds with _______

11. The two purines in DNA are_____________ and ___________.

12. DNA is made of repeating units called _______________.

13. Why is RNA necessary to act as a messenger? Why can't the code be taken directly from
the DNA?

14. Proteins are made where in the cell?

15. How do some cells become brain cells and others become skin cells, when the DNA in ALL
the cells is exactly the same?

16. Why is the DNA molecule referred to as the "blueprint of life"?