Information about Genetic Material
Genetic material is used to store the genetic information of an organic life form. For all currently known living organisms, the genetic material is almost exclusively Deoxyribonucleic Acid DNA. Some viruses use Ribonucleic Acid RNA as their genetic material.
The first genetic material is generally believed to have been RNA, initially manifested by self-replicating RNA molecules floating on bodies of water. This hypothetical period in the evolution of cellular life is known as the RNA world. This hypothesis is based on RNA's ability to act both as genetic material and as a catalyst, known as ribozyme or a ribosome. However, once proteins, which can form enzymes, came into existence, the more stable molecule DNA became the dominant genetic material, a situation continued today. Not only does DNA's double-stranded nature allow for correction of mutations but RNA is inherently unstable. Modern cells use RNA mainly for the building of proteins from DNA instructions, in the form of messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA.
Both RNA and DNA are macromolecules composed of nucleotides, of which there are four available in each molecule. Three nucleotides compose a codon, a sort of "genetic word", which is like an amino acid in a protein. The codon-amino acid translation is known as Translation (genetics).
A codon is composed of three base pairs, one base normally always being attached to one of the other bases. In other words, two normal combinations, which means that DNA was the first binary code. Forty-eight base pairs are in human Deoxyribonucleic Acid, which allows for about 2^48 (281 474 976 710 656) combinations. What's more is that, unlike many other organisms, the base pairs for humans are of nearly equal proportions, which probably reduces the number of viable combinations to more like 2^47.
Genetisists have also come up with rules that would make DNA repeat itself in palindromes, a characteristic that, if it were a strict rule, would cut the exponent (the number of bits in the above numbers) in half, to less than 2^24 (16.7 million) viable combinations.
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The first genetic material is generally believed to have been RNA, initially manifested by self-replicating RNA molecules floating on bodies of water. This hypothetical period in the evolution of cellular life is known as the RNA world. This hypothesis is based on RNA's ability to act both as genetic material and as a catalyst, known as ribozyme or a ribosome. However, once proteins, which can form enzymes, came into existence, the more stable molecule DNA became the dominant genetic material, a situation continued today. Not only does DNA's double-stranded nature allow for correction of mutations but RNA is inherently unstable. Modern cells use RNA mainly for the building of proteins from DNA instructions, in the form of messenger RNA, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA.
Both RNA and DNA are macromolecules composed of nucleotides, of which there are four available in each molecule. Three nucleotides compose a codon, a sort of "genetic word", which is like an amino acid in a protein. The codon-amino acid translation is known as Translation (genetics).
A codon is composed of three base pairs, one base normally always being attached to one of the other bases. In other words, two normal combinations, which means that DNA was the first binary code. Forty-eight base pairs are in human Deoxyribonucleic Acid, which allows for about 2^48 (281 474 976 710 656) combinations. What's more is that, unlike many other organisms, the base pairs for humans are of nearly equal proportions, which probably reduces the number of viable combinations to more like 2^47.
Genetisists have also come up with rules that would make DNA repeat itself in palindromes, a characteristic that, if it were a strict rule, would cut the exponent (the number of bits in the above numbers) in half, to less than 2^24 (16.7 million) viable combinations.
For a non-technical introduction to the topic, see .
A gene is a locatable region of genomic sequence, corresponding to a unit of inheritance, which is associated with regulatory regions, transcribed regions and/or other functional sequence regions...... Click the link for more information.
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Left: An RNA strand, with its nitrogenous bases. Right: Double-stranded DNA.]] Ribonucleic acid or RNA is a nucleic acid polymer consisting of nucleotide monomers, which plays several important roles in the processes of translating genetic information from
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Left: An RNA strand, with its nitrogenous bases. Right: Double-stranded DNA.]] Ribonucleic acid or RNA is a nucleic acid polymer consisting of nucleotide monomers, which plays several important roles in the processes of translating genetic information from
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RNA world hypothesis is a theory which proposes that a world filled with RNA (ribonucleic acid) based life predates current DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) based life. RNA, which can store information like DNA and
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catalysis is the acceleration (increase in rate) of a chemical reaction by means of a substance called a catalyst, which is itself not consumed by the overall reaction.
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ribozyme (from ribonucleic acid enzyme, also called RNA enzyme or catalytic RNA) is an RNA molecule that catalyzes a chemical reaction. Many natural ribozymes catalyze either their own cleavage or the cleavage of other RNAs, but they have also been found to catalyze
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A ribosome is a small, dense, functional structure found in most known cells that assemble proteins and polypeptides used in cell division. It catalyses the assembly of individual amino acids into polypeptide chains by reading messenger RNAs and binding amino acids that are
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Proteins are large organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues.
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Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions.[1] In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products.
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mutations are changes to the base pair sequence of the genetic material of an organism. Mutations can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during cell division, by exposure to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation, chemical mutagens, or viruses, or can occur deliberately
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Messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA) is a molecule of RNA encoding a chemical "blueprint" for a protein product. mRNA is transcribed from a DNA template, and carries coding information to the sites of protein synthesis: the ribosomes.
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Ribosomal RNA (rRNA), a type of RNA synthesized in the nucleolus by RNA Pol I, is the central component of the ribosome, the protein manufacturing machinery of all living cells.
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Transfer RNA (abbreviated tRNA), first hypothesized by Francis Crick, is a small RNA chain (73-93 nucleotides) that transfers a specific amino acid to a growing polypeptide chain at the ribosomal site of protein synthesis during translation.
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A nucleotide is a chemical compound that consists of 3 portions: a heterocyclic base, a sugar, and one or more phosphate groups. In the most common nucleotides the base is a derivative of purine or pyrimidine, and the sugar is the pentose (five-carbon sugar) deoxyribose or ribose.
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genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences) is translated into proteins (amino acid sequences) by living cells.
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amino acid is a molecule that contains both amine and carboxyl functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent.
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Translation is the second process of protein biosynthesis (part of the overall process of gene expression). Translation occurs in the cytoplasm where the ribosomes are located. Ribosomes are made of a small and large subunit which surrounds the mRNA.
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genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences) is translated into proteins (amino acid sequences) by living cells.
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In molecular biology, two nucleotides on opposite complementary DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds are called a base pair (often abbreviated bp).
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palindrome is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that has the property of reading the same in either direction (the adjustment of punctuation and spaces between words is generally permitted). Composing literature in palindromes is an example of constrained writing.
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