Chapter 1
DNA, Cells, and Evolution
The DNA Helix
Overview
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is the genetic material responsible for passing traits from generation to generation in all organisms and most ...
The Central Dogma
Overview
The central dogma of biology states that information encoded in the DNA is transferred to messenger RNA (mRNA), which then directs the synthesis ...
Prokaryotic cells
Prokaryotes are small unicellular organisms that include the domains—Archaea and Bacteria. Bacteria include many common organisms, such as ...
Eukaryotic Compartmentalization
One of the distinguishing features of eukaryotic cells is that they contain membrane-bound organelles, such as the nucleus and mitochondria, that carry ...
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes
The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ...
Mutations
Overview
Mutations are changes in the sequence of DNA. These changes can occur spontaneously or they can be induced by exposure to environmental factors. ...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain ...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major ...
Gene Families
Gene families consist of groups of genes proposed to have originated from a common ancestor. Typically these arise through events in which a gene or genes ...
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms
Genetic transfer occurs when genetic information is passed from one organism to another. It occurs via two mechanisms: vertical gene transfer and ...
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