Protein Synthesis Lab Conclusion

The body produces proteins by using DNA and RNA. DNA goes through transcription to become RNA, then the RNA goes through translation to become a protein. During transcription, RNA polymerase copies the DNA's code into mRNA. During translation, mRNA goes to a ribosome it translates the mRNA to DNA code, three base sequences at a time. One three base sequence codes for one amino acid.




Mutations can be good, bad, or not matter at all. Types of mutations are: deletion, substitution, and insertion. I found that substitution is the least harmful, because it still keeps most of the sequence in order, only changing one specific base. Insertion was the most harmful, because it moved all the bases to the right, making the DNA have no start and end sequence.

I chose insertion, because it completely changes the order of the bases. This made a code without a start and end base. It matters where the mutation occurs because if the insertion occurs at the end, it will only affect the rest of the bases. If it is in the beginning, then it will effect the entire code.




A mutation could cause harm, benefit, or do nothing to the person who has it. Spinal muscular atrophy is when some muscles don't receive signals from nerve cells in the spine. Symptoms of this are muscle weakness, areflexia, and loss of strength.