8th Grade Living Environment

Ardito/Sweeney

Study Guide -- Genetics

Structure of DNA
DNA has 3 parts:
Phosphate
Sugar - Deoxyribose
Nitrogenous bases

We picture it like this:

phosphate

sugar nitrogenous
base

This group of the parts of DNA is called a nucleotide.

Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA.

There are four nitrogenous bases

Adenine
Thymine
Guanine
Cytosine

One molecule of DNA contains about 3 billion of these bases.

These nitrogenous bases follow certain rules about how to pair up

Adenine always pairs up with Thymine
Guanine always pairs up with Cytosine

Genes are segments of a chromosome that contain the recipe for a specific trait. Genes
are found on all 46 human chromosomes. These recipes are for the proteins that cause
that specific trait.

Genetics Study Guide, Page 1 of 4

DNA Replication
Right before cell division, the chromosomes in the cell make copies of themselves. This
is called DNA Replication.

This process follows the following steps:

The goal of this project is to make a perfect copy of the cellʼs DNA.

DNA Versus RNA

DNA RNA

3 basic parts: 3 basic parts:

Sugar - Deoxyribose Sugar - Ribose
Phosphate Phosphate
Nitrogenous Bases Nitrogenous Bases

4 nitrogenous bases: 4 nitrogenous bases:

adenine adenine
thymine uracil
guanine guanine
cytosine cytosine

Double Stranded Single Stranded

One type Two types:

mRNA - carries the DNA message to the ribosome
tRNA -

3 Billion bases long mRNA - Many bases long

tRNA - 3 bases long

Genetics Study Guide, Page 2 of 4

Protein Synthesis
Protein Synthesis is the process where the genetic code is translated in order to make
the proteins necessary for a specific trait or function.

The process follows the following steps:

Genetics Study Guide, Page 3 of 4

Mutations
Mutations are any change to the genetic code.
The change in the genetic code will lead to a different protein being made.

There are three types of mutations we have learned about:

Insertions - a base gets added to the genetic code
Deletions - a base gets removed from the genetic code
Substitutions - one base gets swapped for another base

Mutations can be helpful or harmful.

Mutations can be caused by a few things. These are called mutagenic agents.
The most common one is radiation.
Radiation changes the structure of the DNA. And this change in structure changes the
genetic code.
Mutations can also happen spontaneously.

Genetic Engineering
Genetic Engineering is the process by which the genetic code can be intentionally
changed.
It is accomplished by taking the section of desired DNA and adding it to the DNA of a
bacterium. Then, the modified bacteria are let loose in the person, which would result in
the new DNA being incorporated into the old DNA.

Genetics Study Guide, Page 4 of 4