Lab 6 DNA and RNA “BIO101L”
Student Name:
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit):
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formatting when completing this worksheet.
Pre-Lab Questions
1. Identify two differences between the composition of DNA and RNA.
• DNA contains deoxyribose sugar, whereas RNA contains ribose sugar.
• DNA uses thymine as a base; RNA uses uracil in place of thymine.
2. Suppose you are performing an experiment in which you must heat nucleic acids to
denature a double helix and create two single-stranded pieces. Based on what you know
about nucleotide bonding. What about the composition of nucleotides will change the
temperature at which the double helix will denature? Use scientific reasoning to explain
your response.
The denaturation temperature depends on the number of hydrogen bonds between base
pairs. Regions with a higher proportion of guanine-cytosine (G–C) pairs (which have three
hydrogen bonds) require more heat to separate than regions rich in adenine-thymine (A–
T) pairs (which have two hydrogen bonds). This difference in bonding affects the stability
and melting temperature of the DNA double helix.
, Lab 6 DNA and RNA “BIO101L”
EXPERIMENT 1: CODING AND MUTATIONS - PART I
Introduction Questions
1. What do the beads represent in Experiment 1?
Each colored bead represents a nucleotide codon. The color sequence of three beads
corresponds to a specific letter (or codon) in the genetic code.
2. What constitutes a mutation?
A mutation is any change in the sequence of nucleotides in DNA. This may include the
substitution, deletion, or insertion of a nucleotide(s).
In this experiment, you will use color coded beads (red, blue, yellow and green) to represent
each of the following codons. For instance, the code for codon E is RGB, or red-green-blue.
Codo
Code
n
C RBB
E RGB
H BGG
I BGY
K YRB
L YBG
M GRB
O GYR
S BRY
T RYY
U GBY
Start RRR
Stop BBB
Space YYY
3. Align the beads corresponding to the appropriate letter to write the following
sentence using the codon codes from the table (don’t forget to start, space and stop).
Write the following sentence with the codons: The mouse likes most cheese
RRRRYYBGGRGBYYYGRBGYRGBYBRYRGBYYYYBGBGYYRBRCBBRYYYYGRBGYRBRYRYYY
YYRBBBGGRGBRGBBRYRGBBBB
4. How many beads did you use?
87 beads
Student Name:
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit):
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formatting when completing this worksheet.
Pre-Lab Questions
1. Identify two differences between the composition of DNA and RNA.
• DNA contains deoxyribose sugar, whereas RNA contains ribose sugar.
• DNA uses thymine as a base; RNA uses uracil in place of thymine.
2. Suppose you are performing an experiment in which you must heat nucleic acids to
denature a double helix and create two single-stranded pieces. Based on what you know
about nucleotide bonding. What about the composition of nucleotides will change the
temperature at which the double helix will denature? Use scientific reasoning to explain
your response.
The denaturation temperature depends on the number of hydrogen bonds between base
pairs. Regions with a higher proportion of guanine-cytosine (G–C) pairs (which have three
hydrogen bonds) require more heat to separate than regions rich in adenine-thymine (A–
T) pairs (which have two hydrogen bonds). This difference in bonding affects the stability
and melting temperature of the DNA double helix.
, Lab 6 DNA and RNA “BIO101L”
EXPERIMENT 1: CODING AND MUTATIONS - PART I
Introduction Questions
1. What do the beads represent in Experiment 1?
Each colored bead represents a nucleotide codon. The color sequence of three beads
corresponds to a specific letter (or codon) in the genetic code.
2. What constitutes a mutation?
A mutation is any change in the sequence of nucleotides in DNA. This may include the
substitution, deletion, or insertion of a nucleotide(s).
In this experiment, you will use color coded beads (red, blue, yellow and green) to represent
each of the following codons. For instance, the code for codon E is RGB, or red-green-blue.
Codo
Code
n
C RBB
E RGB
H BGG
I BGY
K YRB
L YBG
M GRB
O GYR
S BRY
T RYY
U GBY
Start RRR
Stop BBB
Space YYY
3. Align the beads corresponding to the appropriate letter to write the following
sentence using the codon codes from the table (don’t forget to start, space and stop).
Write the following sentence with the codons: The mouse likes most cheese
RRRRYYBGGRGBYYYGRBGYRGBYBRYRGBYYYYBGBGYYRBRCBBRYYYYGRBGYRBRYRYYY
YYRBBBGGRGBRGBBRYRGBBBB
4. How many beads did you use?
87 beads
