1. All living things contain DNA DNA is the “language of life” because it is the genetic material that codes for all organism Guess what?! The code only contains FOUR LETTERS!!!!!! A, G, T, C

2. What does DNA look like? DNA is found in repeating units called nucleotides

3. The four bases (letters) of DNA

4. DNA is double-stranded It consists of one strand bonded to another strand

5. Adenine always pairs with Thymine Guanine always pairs with Cytosine A – T T – A G – C C – G

6. The Flow of Genetic Information in Detail Recall that information in DNA is in the form of specific sequences of nucleotides along the DNA strands G A T C A T C G A This information codes for the creation of proteins when needed When DNA codes for protein synthesis it is called gene expression and it involves two steps: 1. Transcription 2. Translation

7. Genes code for Polypeptides Gene –region on a chromosome that codes for a specific polypeptide (protein)‏ When that gene’s specific DNA code is read (expressed) by the cell, a polypeptide is created How is the gene read (expressed)? 1. The section of DNA gets copied onto a strand of RNA (transcription)‏ 2. Then the RNA is read at a ribosome (translation)‏