DNA The Blueprints of Life How many words

DNA: The ‘Blueprints’ of Life

How many words can you make out o DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID? ? • Rearrange the letters of the word above to try and get the most new words from the original RULES – Words must be at least 3 letters long – You can only reuse a letter if it is reused in the word above

Deoxribonucleic Acid • DNA structure was first seen by Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick • The shape of DNA is like a twisted ladder –It is called a double helix

Rosalind Franklin & one of her X-ray diffraction pictures of DNA James Watson & Francis Crick with their DNA model

Deoxribonucleic Acid • The “sides” of the ladder are made of sugar (deoxyribose) and a phosphate. • The “rungs” of the ladder are made of nitrogen bases. • The nitrogen bases and sugar molecules are connected to each other.

Picture of Nucleotide Chemical makeup of a Nucleotide

Deoxribonucleic Acid • The nitrogen bases are held together by HYDROGEN bonds • Adenine (A) joins to Thymine (T) • Guanine (G) joins to Cytosine (C)

Deoxribonucleic Acid • The 3 pieces together, sugar, base and phosphate are called a nucleotide • There are other nucleotides that float around the cytoplasm of cell waiting to be used.

Copying DNA • To copy DNA needs to: 1. Uncoil (or unzip) into two separate pieces 2. Free floating nucleotides then float over and find their matching partner. 3. When the strands are complete again you will have 2 identical copies of DNA. 4. One can now be used in each nucleus.