Central Dogma Vocabulary
1.
Central Dogma of Genetics:
a. This refers to the flow of genetic information. It goes from DNA to RNA to protein.
The DNA carries the genetic information which is transcribed to an RNA molecule.
From there, the mRNA molecule carries the information in the form of an amino acid
sequence, to a ribosome in the cytoplasm, where it gets synthesized into a protein.
2. Transcription:
a. This is the process in which a part of the nucleotide sequence of DNA is copied into a
complimentary sequence in RNA.
3. Messenger RNA:
a. These are molecules that carry copies of instructions for the assembly of amino acids
into proteins from DNA to the rest of the cell.
4. Ribosomal RNA:
a. This is the molecule that makes up the major part of ribosomes.
5. Transfer RNA:
a. This is the molecule that transfers amino acids to ribosomes during protein
synthesis.
6. RNA Polymerase:
a. This is an enzyme similar to DNA polymerase that binds to DNA and separates the
DNA strands during transcription.
7. Promoter:
a. This is a region of DNA that indicates to an enzyme where to bind to make RNA.
8. Translation:
a. This is the decoding of a messenger RNA molecule into a polypeptide chain.
9. Intron:
a. This is an intervening sequence of DNA which does not code for a protein.
10. Exon:
a. This is an express, sequence of DNA that codes for a protein.
11. Codon:
a. This is a three-nucleotide sequence of messenger RNA that codes for a single amino
acid.
12. Anticodon:
a. This is a group of three bases on a transfer RNA molecule that are complementary to
a messenger RNA codon.