| Term | Definition |
|---|
| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic acid |
| RNA | ribonucleic acid |
| virulent | disease causing |
| transformation | the transfer of genetic material in the form of DNA fragments from one cell to another or from one organism to another |
| bacteriophage | a virus that infects bacteria |
| double helix | shape of DNA |
| deoxyribose | A five-carbon sugar found in DNA. |
| ribose | a five-carbon sugar present in RNA |
| nitrogenous base | carbon ring structure found in DNA or RNA that contains one or more atoms of nitrogen; includes adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil |
| hydrogen bonds | complementary nitrogenous bases are bonded by these weak bonds |
| nucleotide | The building block of a nucleic acid, consisting of a five-carbon sugar covalently bonded to a nitrogenous bas and a phosphate group. |
| complimentary base pairing | Means that a purine is always bonded to a pyrimidine (i.e. A with T, C with G, etc.) |
| base sequence | the order of nitrogenous bases on a chain of DNA |
| DNA Replication | process by which DNA is copied in a cell before a cell divides by mitosis, meiosis, or binary fission |
| Helicase | an enzyme that separates DNA strands |
| DNA Polymerase | enzyme involved in DNA replication that joins individual nucleotides to produce a DNA molecule |
| semi-conservative replication | The way in which DNA is synthesized. Each of the two partner strands in a double helix acts as a template for a new partner strand. Hence, after replication each double helix consists of one old and one new strand. |
| mutation | change in a DNA sequence that affects genetic information |
| Watson and Crick | discovered structure of DNA |
| Translation | RNA directs the assembly of amino acids into proteins |
| Uracil | replaces thymine in RNA |
| mRNA | messenger RNA; type of RNA that carries instructions from DNA in the nucleus to the ribosome |
| rRNA | ribosomal RNA; type of RNA that makes up part of the ribosome |
| tRNA | transfer RNA; type of RNA that carries amino acids to the ribosome |
| RNA polymerase | enzyme that adds and links complementary RNA nucleotides during transcription |
| codon | three-nucleotide sequence on messenger RNA that codes for a single amino acid |
| start codon | AUG that signals the start of translation |
| stop codon | codon that specifies an amino acid that stops protein building |
| amino acid | basic building blocks of protein molecules |
| protein | a molecule that is made up of amino acids and that is needed to build and repair body structures and to regulate processes in the body. |
| human genome | Complete set of genetic information |
Combine with other sets
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