Question

It was once thought that there was a one-to-one relationship between gene and protein. What factors caused this hypothesis to be discarded?

The response must consist of at least 100 words. Spelling, grammar and organization must be consistent with college-level writing

Answer 1

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENES AND PROTEINS

Most genes contain the information require to make proteins. The journey from gene to protein is one that is complex and controlled within each cell and it consists of two major steps – transcription and translation. Together, these two steps are known as gene expression.

Transcription: Information stored in a gene’s DNA is transferred to a similar molecule called RNA in the cell nucleus. Although both DNA and RNA are made up of a chain of nucleotide bases, they have slightly different chemical properties. The type of RNA that contains the information needed to make protein is called a messenger RNA or mRNA and it carries the message from the DNA out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm.

Translation: This is the second step in the production of proteins and it takes place in the cytoplasm. The mRNA interacts with a specialised complex known as a ribosome that reads the sequence of the mRNA bases. Each sequence has three bases called a codon, which codes for one particular amino acid. A transfer RNA or tRNA assembles the protein, one amino acid at a time. This continues until the ribosome meets a “stop” codon.