University:
Western Oregon University
Course:
BI 102 | General Biology
Academic year:

2022
Views:

27

Pages:

1
Author:

LauraParks11

Nucleic acids are biological macromolecules that function as the hereditary determinants of living organisms; polymers of repeated building blocks (monomers)= nucleotides; 2 types DNA and RNA DNA is a polynucleotide, packed as chromosomes, that contains instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive, and produce (made up of nitrogen base (purine or pyrimidine), deoxyribose, and phosphate group) DNA-> transcription-> mRNA-> translation-> proteins-> function Applications of basic molecular biology techniques: - studying genetics that cause diseases and developing therapeutic drugs - evidence in crime - genetic engineering and cloning DNA extraction steps: 1- lysis: - mechanical breakage: the cell wall is disrupted by mechanical force - chemical disruption: the cell membrane is disrupted by adding detergents => the end result of the lysis is the contents of the cell spilled/ extracted into the solution 2- precipitation (DNA binding): sample is placed in a filter that separates the DNA from other organelles 3- washing 4- resuspension (elution) Tubes in centrifuge should be balanced in terms of volume and placement Factors affect DNA quality: - high temperature - enzymes that degrade DNA (DNases) - excessive mechanical force