In this three class lesson, I learned that DNA replicates by splitting apart and turning a single strand into two separate strands. DNA splits because of an enzyme called Helicase. This enzyme makes the DNA strand unzip, just as a zipper unzips. This is essential to the replication process, as without splitting, the DNA would have no way of separating its two sides which then replicate the opposite side from the original strand onto their own opposites sides. Helicase is an extremely useful enzyme that
DNA can mutate when it replicates. It will never make an exact copy, but it get pretty close. These minute mutations are what creates different forms of life. When life is isolated from other life, the two types of organisms can mutate so far that they cannot interbreed anymore, meaning they are not part of the same species anymore. This happened for such a long time that DNA mutated into the different types of life that are on our planet today. Life is diverse because of these "errors" in copying the DNA to offspring. DNA does get close though, as our DNA is over 99% similar to a chimpanzee. DNA replication and its errors are what creates diversity in life.
The video talked about DNA as a big library with many books that an organism can go to to figure out how something is supposed to be before doing it. Genes are segments of the DNA that determine specific things such as hair color. DNA's purpose is to provide proteins with instructions for their tasks as they carry out the basic building and organizing of cells.
I learned that DNA is actually very long when stretched out. A single cell can have three feet of DNA inside of it when it is stretched out. To consolidate these long strands, the DNA is wrapped around proteins. It can fit inside of the cells because of the incredibly tiny width of the DNA strands. The strands are so small they must be measured in angstroms, not centimeters or even millimeters. The DNA strands need to be this long so that they can carry enough information for all the parts of the organism.
I found it interesting to learn that there are more cells in one person than there are stars in the galaxy. The DNA of our cells is actually three feet long, but is wrapped around proteins to make it fit in the nucleus. The video talks about a book of genetics that our DNA contains. This book is extremely long and carries loads of uninteresting parts
Life on earth cannot exist without DNA or RNA. Without one of these two genetic codes, an organism would not be able to know how to assemble itself. Genetic coding tells an organism what to look like, how to function, and how each cell should be constructed and what its purpose should be. Life without DNA or RNA could not exist because of the lack of control among cells too. If there were another similar structure built, then this may be plausible. Without a genetic code at all though, life would not be able to construct itself or its
I learned that the photosynthetic equation is very important to photosynthesis. Without one part of the equation, the reactions cannot take place and glucose cannot be made. I also learned that plants have mitochondria because photosynthesis make glucose, not ATP. They need these organelles so that they can make ATP.
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AuthorMichael Tellini Archives
May 2014
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