Questions posed here are ones in the process of being answered by a student or myself:
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Biology 30 Questions
1. Regarding pbs internet assignment (Nov 18/2010)
Q: I am confused about bio DNA chart codes. I don’t get how DNA code is TAC and mRNA and tRNA is UCAG
what letters do I put in the chart?
A: Hmmmmm… Let’s see, if DNA is TAC then mRNA should be AUG (remember that mRNA is a kind of RNA so it doesn’t have any T’s (thymines) in it, so instead of being ATG, this one would be AUG) then the tRNA is complementary to the mRNA so the since the mRNA is AUG, the tRNA is UAC (remember that since tRNA is also a kind of RNA it won’t have T’s but U’s instead for Uracil) So the next one would be:
DNA mRNA tRNA
A U A
C G C
C G C
then the last column for the amino acid cided for by the mRNA codon should be tryptophan because the mRNA is UGG and on textbook pg. 189, Figure 8.12 indicates that a UGG mRNA would be the code for the amino acid tryptophan.
Hope that helps! Mr. G
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2. In class question (Nov 17/2010)
Q: Are we all born with blue eyes?
A: Source: LINK. You inherit your eye color from your parents, but no matter what the color is now, it may have
been blue when you were born. Why? Melanin, the brown pigment molecule that colors your skin, hair,
and eyes, hadn’t been fully deposited in the irises of your eyes or darkened by exposure to
ultraviolet light. The iris is the colored part of the eye that controls the amount of light that
is allowed to enter. Some other animals are born with blue eyes, too, such as kittens.
Melanin is a protein. Like other proteins, the amount and type you get is coded in your genes.
Irises containing a large amount of melanin appear black or brown. Less melanin produces green,
gray, or light brown eyes. If your eyes contain very small amounts of melanin, they will appear
blue or light gray. People with albinism have no melanin in their irises and their eyes may appear
pink because the blood vessels in the back of their eyes reflect light.
Melanin production generally increases during the first year of a baby’s life, leading to a deepenin
of eye color. The color is often stable by about 6 months of age. However, several factors can affect
eye color, including use of certain medications and environmental factors. Some people experience
changes in eye color over the course of their lives. People can have eyes of two colors. Even the
genetics of eye color inheritance isn’t as cut-and-dried as was once thought, as blue-eyed parents
have been known (rarely) to have a brown-eyed child!
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