| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Gamete | An organism's reproductive cells, such as sperm of egg cells. |
| Gene | a segment of DNA that codes for a protein of RNA molecule. |
| Karyotype | Picture of chromosomes |
| Chromosome | The DNA and the proteins associated with the DNA. |
| Chromatid | The two exact copies of DNA that make up each chromosome |
| Centromere | The point where the two chromatids are attached. |
| Homologous Chromosome | Chromosomes that are similar in size, shape, and genetic content. |
| Diploid | 2n; Contains two sets of chromosomes. Every other cell. (Somatic cell) |
| Haploid | n; Contains one set of chromosomes. (Gametes) |
| Autosome | 22 pairs of chromosomes in human somatic cells that are not directly involved in determining the sex of an individual. |
| Sex Chromosomes | One of the 23 pairs of chromosomes that will determine the sex of the individual |
| Double helix | Two strands twisted around each other, like winding staircase. |
| Nucleotide | The subunits that make up DNA. Made of three parts: a phosphate group, a five-carbon sugar molecule, and a nitrogen-containing base. |
| Deoxyribose | The five-carbon sugar in DNA nucleotides |
| Base-pairing rules | The structure and size of the nitrogen bases allows for only these two paired combinations |
| Complementary base pair | A&T, C&G |
| DNA replication | The process of making a copy of DNA |
| DNA helicase | Opens the double helix by breaking the hydrogen bonds that link the complementary nitrogen bases between the two strands |
| Replication fork | The areas where the double helix separates. |
| DNA polymerase | enyzmes that move along each of the DNA strands. Adds nucleotides to the exposed nitrogen bases, according to the base-pairing rules. |
| Thymine | Purines |
| Adenine | Purines |
| Cytosine | Pyrimidines |
| Guanine | Pyrimidines |
| Ribonucleic Acid | Nucleic acid-a molecule made of nucleotides linked together. |
| Uracil | Nitrogen bases that replace Thymine |
| Transcription | The process where the instructions for making a protein are transferred from a gene to an RNA molecule |
| Translation | The process where the cells use two different types of RNA to read the instructions of the RNA molecule and put together the amino acids that make up the protein. |
| RNA polymerase | An enzyme that adds and links complementary RNA nucleotides during transcription. |
| rRNA | Builds up the ribosomes together with proteins. |
| mRNA | Transfer the information about the amino acid sequence from DNA to the protein synthesis. |
| tRNA | Transfer amino acids to the ribosome for protein synthesis |
| Frame-shift mutation | One nucleotide is added/deleted therefore the whole sequence is shifted. The can happen in RNA & DNA |
| Chromosal | Involves the whole chromosome. Some points might have been deleted or individuals can receive extra chromosomes |
| Point mutations | One individual substitution in the nucleotide sequence. This can happen in DNA & RNA. |
| Mutations | Changes in the RNA/DNA. It can be good, bad, or have no effect. At all times, the cell has special enzymes to proof read the process to limit the number of mutations |
| Codon | Three-nucleotide sequences on the mRNA |
| Anti-codon | Three nucleotide sequence on a tRNA that is complementary to a mRNA codon |
| Genetic code | The amino acids and "start" and "stop" signals that are coded for by each of the possible 64 mRNA codons. |
Combine with other sets
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