Biology Genes Are Regions of Nucleic Acid

Biology

Genes are regions of nucleic acid that is passed from parents to offspring during reproduction as chromosomes in nuclei of gametes, encoding information that is essential for the construction and regulation of proteins and other molecules that determine the growth and functioning of the organism (Gene pp).

The DNA strand is expressed into a trait only if it is transcribed to RNA, and because the transcription starts from a specific base-pair sequence and stops at another, DNA strand needs to be correctly placed between the two (Gene pp). Cells regulate the activity of genes by increasing or decreasing their rate of transcription and over the short-term, this regulation occurs through the binding or unbinding of proteins, known as transcription factors, to specific non-coding DNA sequences called regulatory elements (Gene pp). The DNA strand may also be silenced through DNA methylation or by chemical changes to the protein components of chromosomes, and this is a permanent form of regulation of the transcription (Gene pp).

The RNA is often edited before its translation into a protein (Gene pp). Eukaryotic cells splice the transcripts of a gene, by keeping the exons and removing the introns. Because of the complexity of the splicing process, one transcribed RNA may be spliced in alternate ways to produce not one but a variety of proteins from one pre-mRNA (Gene pp). Prokaryotes produce a similar effect by shifting reading frames during translation (Gene pp). The translation of RNA into a protein also starts with a specific start and stop sequence (Gene pp). Once produced, the protein interacts with the many other proteins in the cell, according to the cell metabolism, finally producing the trait (Gene pp).

The 3 types of RNA: Messenger RNA m-RNA An RNA copy of a gene;

Ribosomal RNA r-RNA Ribosomal structure; also includes the enzyme peptidyl transferase; Transfer RNA t-RNA Transfer amino acids to ribosome; have anticodons which match the m-RNA codons (Lecture pp).