Unit 5 Reflection

In this unit, "Walking the Dogma", we went more in depth about the structure of DNA and some of its jobs in copying itself as well as providing information for organism. We focused on how the nucleotides that make up DNA such as adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine are incorporated in the processes of DNA replication, protein synthesis, and gene regulation. Since I am a visual learner I was successful in grasping the concepts of DNA replication, protein synthesis, and gene regulation through diagrams and videos of these processes occurring.

<http://philschatz.com/anatomy-book/contents/m46073.html>

I am weaker in the RNA processing of eukaryotic gene regulation. I'm still not confident in the ideas of exons and introns and why its essential that introns are cut out of the sequence before it is read by the mRNA. Another idea that was difficult to wrap my head around was the idea of histons coiling around DNA and forming chromosomes. I became more confident with this concept, however, after watching a video of this happening. During this unit, I tried using my visual learning style to my advantage when we made a model of DNA and watched videos of the central dogma of biology. I realized that I really do remember information better when I use visual aids while I am first learning it. We learned about mutations occasionally occurring in protein synthesis, however, I still wonder why more mistakes are not made in this process. There are so many places for mistakes during transcription, the RNA traveling to the cytoplasm for translation, during translation, and the folding and producing of amino acids to make proteins. It is amazing to me that organisms preform with so few mistakes while doing such complex, multi-step processes.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_mutation>

Protein Synthesis Lab

1) Proteins Synthesis is the process used to create proteins that involves DNA, RNA, and ribosomes. This process begins with transcription, in the nucleus, during which the DNA unzips, allowing the RNA polymerase to read and copy the DNA code for a mRNA. The mRNA then travels to the cytoplasm where translation occurs. Ribosomes read the mRNA 3 bases at a time in sequences known as codons. They then translate the codons into amino acids, eventually forming long chains of amino acids. These chains fold up and integrate with other amino acid chains until a protein is created.

<http://biologyteksbylauryncarter.weebly.com/protein-synthesis.html>

2) Generally, the mutation of substitution makes little to no change in the amino acid sequence. Frameshift mutation, however, seemed to have the greatest effect to the proteins. This type of mutation includes insertion and deletion, when a nucleotide is added or taken away. Where in the mRNA sequence the mutation occurs also has a great effect to the protein. The closer to the beginning of the sequence the mutation occurs, the more effect it will have on the protein. If the mutation occurs near the end, then only the final few amino acids will be affected, however, if the mutation occurs near the beginning, then the majority, if not all, of the amino acid sequence will be affected.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_mutation>

3) I chose the mutation of deletion, in which I got rid of the very first nucleotide. This mutation was similar to a deletion mutation in step 4, in which I deleted a "T" near the begining of the sequence. I chose this mutation to prove my prediction correct that the closer to the beginning of the sequence the mutation occurs, the more the protein will be affected. This is because the earlier there is a mutation, the earlier the rest of the sequence will be out of order. A protein was never formed as a result of my mutation because there was no start codon.

4) Believe it or not, one common mutation in humans is blue eyes. Originally, all humans had brown eyes, however, around 10,000,000 years ago, a mutation occurred that limited the amount of melanin that could be produced in the stroma of the iris, leaving the stroma blue. Mutations can affect your life because it can prevent your body from developing traits required to properly function. 

<http://www.iran-daily.com/News/128325.html>