How do proteins help determine traits?
1 Answer
They are found in the DNA. (Check explanation)
Explanation:
The DNA inside the nucleus has a complex structure that varies from person to person, or maybe even the cells present inside one person.
The DNA contains a phosphate chain bonded to a pentose sugar which is in turn bonded to the nitrogen base pairs, the most important part which decides the traits. There are five nitrogen base pairs, but only four occur in DNA;
Adenine
Cytosine
Guanine
Thymine (Only in DNA)
Uracil (Only in RNA, replaces thymine)
Adenine is complementary to Thymine/Uracil. Cytosine is complementary to Guanine.
When the DNA is replicated and the mRNA strands transcribe the arrangement of the DNA, eg.
A T C T G G G A T C A T A - DNA
U A G A C C C U A G U A U- mRNA
Once this is copied and taken to the Ribosomes for translation, the triplet code comes into play. Three consecutive base pairs are coded for one of the 20 amino acids. Hence it results in different traits due the arrangement of amino acids in protein chains.
