Hello! This chapter is all about gene expression at the molecular level. One of the major focuses of this chapter is transcription and translation. The following video helped me out a lot by explaining these processes in a clear and concise manner. It's very easy to get transcription and translation confused, and the video does a great job comparing and contrasting the two. He also used a smart pad with a powerpoint presentation, kind of like Dr. Weber, so I found that cool. The guy also uses some outside animations that were quite helpful. I would suggest watching the video for a quick refresh of transcription and translation.
Another focus of the chapter was The Genetic Code. I found this topic very interesting and decided to look it up. All I found was pretty much what the book said, it's history and boring stuff. But then I found this article that had the word "new" in it, so it sounded interesting. I always like to read about advancements to things. This article from PubMed talks about adding new chemistries to the genetic code. The advancement of new orthogonal aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs has lead to the addition of about 70 unnatural amino acids (UAAs) to the genetic codes of Escherichia coli, yeast, and mammalian cells. These UAAs signify a range of structures and function not found in the canonical 20 amino acids and thus provide new chances to generate proteins with enhanced or novel properties and probes of protein function and structure.
An additional topic of the chapter was RNA splicing. The following video talks about the process of removing introns after RNA transcription. It's less than 2 minutes long, but still manages to provide important details. The visuals, which look rather old, are actually good with the explanation. The lady has a very pleasant and clear voice, compared to the monotone male voice we usually hear in most animation. I would suggest watching the video because it's really worth the 1:39 you have to put in.
That's my last post for this semester! Have an amazing winter break, everyone!
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