Protein Synthesis Conclusion

Proteins are created in the process of protein synthesis. It starts with DNA being copied into RNA by a molecule called RNA polymerase. The RNA then exits the nucleus and goes to a ribosome, where it is read. Each codon, or three base pairs, in RNA codes for one amino acid. An amino acid can be coded for by several codons. Transfer RNA brings the amino acids to the ribosome. At the end of the RNA strand is a STOP codon, which tells the ribosome that the protein is complete.



When DNA bases are changed in a mutation, it affects the RNA, which can either have no effect on the protein, or completely change it, depending on whether the mutation is a substitution, deletion, or insertion. Substitutions substitute one base for another. This type of mutation has very little affect on the protein, if any. It can only change one amino acid, or it may not change it at all, which is called a silent mutation. insertions and deletions have the greatest affect, because they change both the amino acid they are inserted on, and the rest of the DNA sequence. These mutations are most dangerous near the beginning of the gene, because they will affect more codons.

An example of a mutation. The plant produces different colored flowers.

In this lab, we chose a mutation to use on a DNA sequence. I chose to delete the first base, which had a huge affect, as it changed every following codon, causing the protein to have completely different amino acids, and the stop codon to appear early and end the protein before it should have. The effect would have been less if I did this in a later spot in the DNA, because less codons would have been affected.

The protein used to be:

MET-TYR-LYS-HIS-VAL-ILE-ASN-CYS-ILE

After my mutation, it changed to:

CYS-THR-ASX-MET

Mutations could affect my life because they can happen during mitosis, which means that one can occur at any time. An example of a mutation is Progeria, which causes accelerated aging. People with this disease often die from age related diseases at around age 13, such as heart attacks and strokes.