protein synthesis lab

All organisms need protein to live and for the body to work. proteins are made through a very complicated process. First, DNA gets copied into RNA (temporary copy). The mRNA then leaves the nucleus, and snakes out into the cytoplasm. The mRNA then goes to the ribosomes, the ribosomes read groups of 3 different bases. The DNA Polymerase then goes around determining the proper amino acid for the codon. When the process is finished, it winds up and becomes a protein.

Mutations are changes in the arrangement of DNA or RNA. They are like flaws in foods or toys, sometimes there are random mess-ups in how they are created. The three main types of mutations are insertion, deletion, and substitution. Substitution is the least effective mutation because it only affects one sequence. Deletion and insertion can cause huge problems with the protein, especially if they are at the start of the RNA or DNA strands.

 I chose substitution as my mutation not only because it is the least damaging, but because I knew that it wouldn't have a big affect on the DNA strand. It only changed one sequence, and it wouldn't make a difference wherever the mutation was placed.

Proteins are important to all living organisms or plants, so it is very bad to have any mutations. There are mutations that can stop blood in your body from clotting very easily and there are mutations that make it hard for your blood to get oxygen and for hemoglobin to form. These mutations can be very dangerous because if you have a mutation for hemophilia , then bruises can be a very bad thing because if you cant stop the bleeding in your body, you could bleed out and die.

Unit 5 Reflection

This unit was about the copying of DNA and what factors contribute to it. The copied DNA is called mRNA. DNA is the master copy and RNA is the copy of the copy. The factory that makes the DNA copies is called the operon. We also learned about how mutations occur and what a flaw in the DNA or RNA system can cause. I under stood most of this information very well and could explain parts of it to another person. Some of my weaknesses are remembering the names of parts that are involved in making DNA, and decoding DNA into RNA. I can work on both of these by going over the unit again and studying. I will be able to decode DNA quite easily if i just ask for help and practice remembering the substitutes for the letters that are in DNA. Some of my strengths in this unit were understanding the processes of replication and copying such as semi conservative replication. The major concepts i learned from this unit were DNA replication, translation and walking the dogma. After i went to Mr. Elliot for help on how to walk the dogma and understand how to translate DNA into RNA language everything else became easier. I feel that at the end of this unit i am now a better student with even more knowledge to share with others. One thing that i would have liked to learn more about, or go into deeper detail with would be mutations. Its very interesting how even the smallest flaw can affect a human in such a big way. This unit was very helpful to my understanding of how DNA is copied and how it is used. Overall this was a great unit for my personal needs and understandings, and i feel i am a better student today than i was a week ago.

DNA Extraction Lab

In this lab the main question that we were trying to find was "How can DNA be seperated from cheek cells in order to study it"? We found that DNA can be seperated from the cheek cells when it is placed in the 95% isopropanol alcohol solution. our qualitative data shows that this is the case because before the alcohol solution (homogenization stage) there was a thick layer of mucus, but after the alcohol solution was added (precipitation stage) a clump of what looked like spongy meterial began to float to the surface. This material was the DNA that had been extracted from the mucus. In order to get the DNA alone we had to break down the proteins known as histones. We did this by adding pineapple juice witch contained catabolic proteases witch are good at decomposing proteins. Although my results were accurate and reasonable i did make a few errors. My biggest flaw in this experiment was the fact that i forgot to add sodium chloride (salt) into the solution. This would have facilitated the precipitation by shielding the negative phosphate ends of the DNA, allowing them to move closer together. Our overall data contradicts the expected results because of my failure to put sodium chloride into my solution. The results might have been affected because there would be more phosphate ends in my clump of DNA because the solution failed to shield and move them closer together. Two ways i could improve this lab would be to reread the directions and make sure that all the ingredients for the solution are put in, and be more precise about how much of each ingredient i put in the solution. The purpose of this lab was to better help us understand DNA and what compositions break down proteins. I could apply what i learned in this lab to my knowledge when taking tests. I will be able to remember what proteins are composed of and what solutions break them down.