Term | Definition |
Nucleotides | small units, or monomers, that make up DNA |
Double Helix | two strands of DNA wind around each other like a twisted ladder |
Base Pairing Rules | thymine always pairs with adenine, cytosine always pairs with guanine |
Replication | the process by which DNA is copied during the cell cycle |
DNA Polymerases | a group of enzymes that bond the new nucleotides together |
Central Dogma | molecular bioliogy, which states that information flows in one direction, from DNA to RNA to proteins |
RNA | a chain of nucleotides, each made of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen containing base. |
Transcription | the process of copying a sequence of DNA to produce a complementary strand of RNA |
RNA Polymerases | enzymes that bond nucleotides together in a chain to make a new RNA molecule |
Messenger RNA (mRNA) | an intermediate message that is translated to form a protein |
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) | forms part of ribosome a cells protein factories |
Transfer RNA (tRNA) | brings amino acids from the cytoplasm to a ribosome to help make the growing protein |
Traslation | the process that converts, or translates, an mRNA message into a polypeptide |
Codon | a three-nucleotide sequence that codes for an amino acid |
Stop Codons | they signal the end of the amino acid chain |
Start Codons | which signals the start of translation and the amino acid methionine |
Anticodon | a set of three nucleotides that is complementary to an mRNA codon |