STAAR Biology Reporting Category 2

Front

What is the function of mRNA in protein synthesis?

Back

mRNA (messenger RNA) carries the genetic information from DNA to the ribosome, where it serves as a template for assembling amino acids into a protein.

Front

Define a recessive allele.

Back

A recessive allele is an allele whose trait only shows up when no dominant allele is present.

Front

What are the four nucleotide bases in DNA?

Back

The four nucleotide bases in DNA are adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C).

Front

What is the role of ribosomes in protein synthesis?

Back

Ribosomes are the cellular structures where proteins are synthesized by translating the mRNA sequence into a specific sequence of amino acids.

Front

What is a mutation in DNA?

Back

A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that can lead to changes in the structure and function of proteins.

Front

What is the purpose of DNA replication?

Back

The purpose of DNA replication is to create an identical copy of the DNA before cell division.

Front

What is a silent mutation?

Back

A silent mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that does not alter the amino acid sequence of the resulting protein.

Front

Explain the difference between dominant and recessive alleles.

Back

Dominant alleles express their traits even when only one copy is present, while recessive alleles express their traits only when two copies are present.

Front

What is transcription in the context of protein synthesis?

Back

Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into mRNA, which then carries the genetic information to the ribosome.

Front

What is the significance of the genetic code?

Back

The genetic code is a set of rules that defines how the sequence of nucleotides in DNA is translated into the sequence of amino acids in proteins.