The molecular basis of inheritance

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The molecular basis of inheritance
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The structure of DNA
nucleotide
base pair
base
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Flow of information from gene to protein
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Transcription same language (nucleotides)
RNA carries message
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One strand is used as the template
RNA is processed to remove introns (non coding
sequences)
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• Each triplet (codon) specifies a single amino
  acid
• Some codons signify start and stop of translation

12-1
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degenerate code - wobble hypothesis
termination of protein synthesis
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Code is almost universal
initiation of protein synthesis
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Transfer RNA (tRNA)
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2.
1.
4.
3.
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Protein structure
R-group
R-group
amino acid
R-group
R-group
primary structure
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Protein chain secondary structure
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A protein chain folds to create tertiary structure
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Multiple chains fold together to produce
quaternary structure
each chain is a product of one gene
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Sickle cell disease
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13-15
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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Plasmodium metabolizes hemoglobin Acid
environment converts Hemoglobin cells are
destroyed cells become leaky
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The importance of protein structure

• Battling terrorism at grid.org
• Smallpox as a terrorist weapon
• Vaccination ended in 1972 (world highly
  susceptible)
• Vaccination is possible but has risks
• Can researchers block critical proteins produced
  by the virus?
• Which proteins would fit?

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Smallpox at Grid.org

• Program takes advantage of unused computer
  processing power
• Compares likely protein candidates with target
  molecule
• Computationally difficult, but millions of
  computers make one supercomputer

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