Lab 6 - Cracking the Genetic Code - Fall 2023

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New York University *

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Biology

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Jan 9, 2024

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Laboratory 6: Cracking the Genetic Code 1 LABORATORY 6: CRACKING THE GENETIC CODE Objectives In this laboratory session you will examine some of the experiments used by scientists in the 1960s to crack the genetic code. The procedure involved synthesizing specific strands of messenger RNA (mRNA) and then examining what amino acids were produced by translation of these genetic instructions. This was a complex, puzzle-solving exercise that took many years and deservedly won the Nobel Prize. You will be using a computer simulation to reproduce these experiments and use the same systematic approach to construct your own version of the genetic code. Preparation Carefully read the introduction in order to prepare for this laboratory project and quiz. You should be familiar with the following concepts and techniques: transcription translation codons amino acid structure using cell extracts
Laboratory 6: Cracking the Genetic Code 2 INTRODUCTION The Genetic Code Our proteins are polymers of amino acids, arranged in an order specified by DNA sequences. The cell strings together a sequence of amino acids based on a DNA code comprised of only four nucleobases: A (adenine), T (thymine), G (guanine) and C (cytosine) . The central steps in this process are illustrated in Figure 1 . Figure 1 : DNA specifies the sequence of a protein via the genetic code. The first step involves making an RNA version of the DNA’s sequence. This process is called transcription and uses one of the DNA strands to make a complementary copy that becomes a messenger RNA (mRNA) . The mRNA strand also has four bases: three of them (A, G, and C) are the same as DNA but mRNA contains uracil (U) instead of thymine (T). The term “complementary” refers to the fact that a specific base within the DNA strand (e.g., A) always pairs with a specific base within the mRNA strand (e.g., U). These base pairing rules ensure that the sequence of bases in mRNA is a faithful replica (although not an exact copy) of the sequence of bases in its parent DNA. Figure 2 on the following page illustrates the structures of DNA and mRNA side-by-side for comparison.
Laboratory 6: Cracking the Genetic Code 3 Figure 2: The structures of DNA and RNA including nucleobases. The second step is called translation and is far more complex. The sequence of mRNA bases is used as a set of instructions to direct the synthesis of a polypeptide , composed of a specific sequence of amino acids . All proteins that perform essential functions within cells are polypeptide chains and differ in their sequence of amino acids. The relationship between the sequence of bases in mRNA and its corresponding amino acid is called the genetic code . We now know that it takes three mRNA bases – called a codon – to code for a particular type of amino acid.
Laboratory 6: Cracking the Genetic Code 4 There are twenty different types of amino acids commonly found within proteins and they share a general structure shown in Figure 3(a) . Each type of amino acids differs in the chemical composition of its sidechain , which is represented as R . These sidechains have varying structures and properties – some sidechains are simple hydrocarbons whereas other contain various functional groups. Figure 3(b) shows three different amino acids and highlights their sidechain structures. (a) (b) Figure 3: (a) General structure of an amino acid. (b) The three amino acids shown differ in the chemical structures of their sidechains (highlighted in dashed boxes).
Laboratory 6: Cracking the Genetic Code 5 Table 1 lists all twenty amino acids according to their full name and three-letter symbol in alphabetical order. Although many of the names will be unfamiliar, they all represent variations on the chemical structure shown in Figure 3(a) . It is not necessary to memorize this list and the table can be used for reference during the laboratory exercise. Table 1 : Alphabetical listing of the 20 common amino acids 3 LETTER SYMBOL FULL NAME Ala alanine Arg arginine Asn asparagine Asp aspartic acid Cys cysteine Gln glutamine Glu glutamic acid Gly glycine His histidine Ile isoleucine Leu leucine Lys lysine Met methionine Phe phenylalanine Pro proline Ser serine Thr threonine Trp tryptophan Tyr tyrosine Val valine In order for scientists to “crack” the genetic code, they had to determine the rules that relate a particular set of three mRNA bases (a codon) to a particular amino acid. This was achieved through systematically making a variety of different mRNA sequences and examining what sequence of amino acids they produced via translation. In living cells this process occurs within the ribosome , a complex molecular factory for making proteins. With the aid of transfer RNA (tRNA) , the ribosome is able to form the amino acid chains that make up the structure of proteins. Scientists devised a way to mimic this process in the laboratory using “extracts” from bacterial cells that contains the necessary protein-synthesizing components. This enables translation to be carried out in a controlled environment and controlled without interference from other cellular processes. The mechanism behind protein synthesis in the cell is shown in Figure 4 on the following page.
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