Grifith’s experiment on the DNA transformation
showed bacteria can transfer genetic traits when a harmless strain picked up something from dead harmful bacteria, changed into a lethal form
Structure of nucleotide
a phosphate group, a five carbon sugar, and a nitrogenous base
DNA is composed of four nucleotides
Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C), thymine (T)
Chargaff’s rule
in any sample of DNA, the amount of adenine is equal to the amount of thymine and the amount of guanine is equal to the amount of cytosine
Watson and Crick model
describes DNA as a double helix, a twisted ladder structure with sugar-phosphate backbones on the outside and nitrogenous bases on the inside, forming “rungs”
DNA replication
crucial biological process where a cell makes an exact copy of its DNA before dividing. Some enzymes involved are helicase and DNA polymerase
Cloning vs sexual reproduction
cloning is the repeat of DNA (genetic blueprints) while sexual reproduction is a process using DNA from two parents to create unique offspring
Double helix
the spiral, ladder-like structure of a DNA molecule, consisting of two complementary strands wound around each other, with sugar-phosphate backbones on the outside and paired nucleotide bases (A-T, G-C) forming the “rungs” in the center, which encodes genetic information
Nuclein
a substance originally identified in the nucleus of cells, made up of nucleic acids and proteins
Bacteriophages
viruses that specifically infect and replicate within bacteria
Nucleoside
a compound commonly found in DNA or RNA, consisting of a purine or pyrimidine base linked to a sugar
Cloning
the process of creating genetically identical copies of biological material through asexual reproduction or laboratory techniques like molecular cloning
SCNT (Somatic cell nuclear transfer)
a biology technique where the nucleus from a body cell is put into an egg cell that had its own nucleus removed, creating an embryo genetically identical to the donor cell
Therapeutic cloning
a biotech process using (SCNT) to create an embryo genetically identical to a patient, not to birth an organism, but to harvest its embryonic stem cells (ESCs)
