NAME _______________________________________________________ DATE __________________________
DNA, RNA & Snorks
It’s a race! The planet Dee Enae has just been discovered in a distant solar system. Living on this planet are organisms called snorks.
Scientists around the world want to be the first to sequence the DNA of these strange organisms. Snorks only have one chromosome
with 10 genes on it. The job for you and fellow scientists is to analyze the genes of its DNA, determine what traits the organism has,
and then sketch the organism (You can be creative here). Each gene has two versions that result in a different trait being expressed in
the snork.
Gene
Amino Acid Sequence
Despription
1 – Body Covering
val – ser – leu
Hairless
val – ser – lys
Hairy
2 – Body Style
tyr – pro – glu – glu – lys
Plump
val – pro – thr – glu – lys
Skinny
3 – Legs
leu – leu – leu – pro
3 legged
leu - leu - ser - ala
2 legged
4 – Head Shape
ala - val - val
Round head
val - ala - ala
Square head
5 – Tails
his - ile
Tail
his - his
No tail
6 – Body Color
ser - pro - val
Blue (hair/skin)
val - phe - tyr
Red (hair/ skin)
7 – Eyes
asp - ile - leu - leu - pro - thr
Small slanted eyes
asp - ile - pro - pro - pro - thr
Large round eyes
8 – Mouth
val - asp - asp - ala
Circular mouth
asp - asp - asp - ala
Rectangular mouth
9 – Ears
phe - ser - gly
Pointed standing-up ears
phe - phe - gly
Rounded floppy ears
10 - Arms
arg - tyr - cys
Long spaghetti like arms
arg - arg - asp
Short stumpy arms
Each of the following DNA samples was taken from volunteer snorks. The DNA was then transcribed to its complimentary RNA
strand. Your job is to analyze the RNA sample and determine the phenotype (how the organism looks) based on the sequence. The
genes are in order from gene 1 to gene 10. Use your codon chart.
Snicker Snork
Gene
RNA Sequence
1
GUC AGC AAA
2
UAC CCC GAA GAG AAA
3
CUC UUA AGU GCG
4
GCU GUU GUG
5
CAU CAU
6
GUU UUU UAC
7
GAU AUC UUA CUG CCC ACC
8
GAC GAC GAU GCC
9
UUU UCU GGG
10
AGA UAU UGU
Amino Acid Sequence
Phenotype
Snuffle Snork
Gene
1
GUA
2
GUU
3
CUU
4
GUU
5
CAU
6
GUA
7
GAU
8
GUU
9
UUC
10
AGA
RNA Sequence
AAA
ACU GAA AAG
CUC CCC
GCU
Phenotype
Amino Acid Sequence
Phenotype
Amino Acid Sequence
Phenotype
UCU
CCU
CUC
GCG
CAC
UUU UAU
AUU CUU CUG CCC ACA
GAC GAC GCA
UCG GGU
UAU UGU
Snapple Snork
Gene
RNA Sequence
1
GUC AGC CUU
2
GUU CCC ACA GAA AAA
3
CUC UUA AGU GCG
4
GUU GCG GCU
5
CAC AUU
6
UCU CCC GUA
7
GAU AUU CCC CCC CCC ACC
8
GAU GAC GAC GCA
9
UUC UUU GGG
10
CGC CGG GAC
Snoopy Snork
Gene
1
GUA
2
UAC
3
UUA
4
GCU
5
CAU
6
UCU
7
GAU
8
GUU
9
UUU
10
CGC
Amino Acid Sequence
RNA Sequence
UCC CUC
CCC GAG GAA AAA
UUA CUG CCC
GUU GUA
AUU
CCC GUA
AUU CUU CUG CCC ACA
GAU GAU GCC
UCU GGU
CGU GAC
Using the information you discovered, draw each snork and their characteristics based on their DNA sequence.
SNICKER SNORK
SNAPPLE SNORK
SNUFFLE SNORK
SNOOPY SNORK