DNA as the Genetic Material: Experiments, Structure and Packaging

Name: DNA as the Genetic Material: Experiments, Structure and Packaging
Author: StemPy Lab

Which molecule carries the plan of a living thing, a protein or a nucleic acid? You follow three famous experiments, then build DNA and RNA from their nucleotides and use the rules of base pairing to count. At the end you see how two metres of DNA are packed into one nucleus. It serves the Indian syllabus (NCERT, NEET) and the matching topic of A-Level, IB and AP.

3 lessons, about 1 h 35 min3 simulations11 problems4 practice questionsPython in every lesson

Created by StemPy Lab

Course outline (3 lessons)

Lesson 1about 35 min
The search for the genetic material
Before 1950 many scientists thought that a protein carries the plan of a living thing. Griffith found a transforming principle in bacteria, Avery, MacLeod and McCarty showed that it is DNA, and Hershey and Chase confirmed it with viruses. A genetic material must copy itself, stay stable, change slowly and express itself, and DNA does this better than RNA.
1 simulation1 practice question1 Python program4 problems
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Lesson 2about 35 min
The structure of DNA and RNA
Each nucleotide has a base, a sugar and a phosphate. The nucleotides are joined into a strand by phosphodiester bonds, and two strands run in opposite directions to make the double helix. A pairs with T by 2 hydrogen bonds and G pairs with C by 3, so Chargaff's rules follow. RNA has ribose, uracil and one strand.
1 simulation2 practice questions1 Python program4 problems1 Python lab
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Lesson 3about 25 min
Packaging DNA into the nucleus
A human cell holds about two metres of DNA in a nucleus a few micrometres wide. Bacteria fold their DNA into a nucleoid with proteins. In eukaryotes the DNA is wound round 8 histone proteins to make a nucleosome of about 200 base pairs. The beads of chromatin are coiled and folded into a chromosome.
1 simulation1 practice question1 Python program3 problems1 Python lab1 question set1 note
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DNA, Structure and Packaging: Timed Test

20 questions · 15 min

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DNA as the Genetic Material: Experiments, Structure and Packaging

Course outline (3 lessons)

The search for the genetic material

The structure of DNA and RNA

Packaging DNA into the nucleus

Test Your Learning

Your teacher

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