Protein Disease Project
Intro
Being my favorite project by far, we started with learning how DNA was formed, it's functions, and multiple processes. After developing a basis understanding, we were assigned a protein based disease and tasked with creating some form of presentation to display how DNA effects the disease and how the disease works, to show our understanding of protein synthesis.
We had only a few days to complete this project, but I believe we were diligently and were able to complete a lot in the time given. Not only did we provide a detailed slide show, but an entertaining commercial for a hypothetical pill that would cure diabetes based on the protein it's caused by, TXNIP. Our project was presented as more of a pitch for our product, so it would be more entertaining than a regular slide show. The research we did developed our understanding of protein misfolding and mutations with the proteins that lead to grander scale issues.
Content
- Translation - mRNA forms into amino acid
- Transcription - DNA turned into mRNA to travel through ribosomes
- mRNA - RNA that travels through the ribosome and is then turned into proteins
- DNA - Deoxyribonucleic Acid, contains instructions for making proteins within the cell
- RNA - carrier of instructions from DNA to create proteins
- Insertion - insertion of one or more nucleotides
- Deletion - when sections of DNA nucleotides get deleted
- Substitution - when the wrong nucleotide is placed in the sequence
- Amino Acid - building blocks for proteins
- Codon - bunch of three nucleotides
- Anti-codon
- Adenine - one of the four nitrogenous bases
- Guanine - one of the four nitrogenous bases
- Thymine - one of the four nitrogenous bases
- Cytosine - one of the four nitrogenous bases
- Nucleotide - the monomer that makes up polymers that make DNA strands, made of phosphate, sugars, and a base
- Ribosome - where mRNA binds and is transferred
- Genotype - the genetic makeup/alleles
- Gene - DNA code for specific trait
- Allele - variation of gene
- Phenotype - how the gene is expressed, the trait received
- Protein Folding - protein chain is created and folds into a specific shape so it can complete its intended biological function in the ribosome
- Central Dogma - protein synthesis, DNA --> mRNA --> Protein
- Missense Mutation - one nucleotide is changed and it results in the wrong codon produced
- Nonsense Mutation - one nucleotide is changed --> stopped codon --> no purpose so protein does nothing
- Duplication - DNA copied one or more times
The content we learned throughout this unit was then divided upon groups earlier in the project. Each group had to present a mutation to give us a basic understanding of them so we could then apply them to our diseases for thee final project. We also had to describe the protein synthesis, translation, and transcription of our protein disease to display our full understanding of the concept.
Reflection
This project was not an easy topic, but the project itself was fun. The concept was really in depth and hard to understand honestly, but considering it was the end of the semester, everyone was extra motivated to do a good job to either improve or maintain their grade. That is the main reason my group and I chose to do a highly detailed slideshow and a more engaging commercial. We chose to make a commercial sort of similar to one you would see for a prescription medicine on television. Of course ours was a little more humorous and more parody-like, but I believe our creative presentation got the point across. I also believe that my group and I work very well together. I've known one of my group members for a very long time, so we naturally get along, and our other group member was just very cooperative and an ethical working, so we were able to complete a lot in a short amount of time. We completed all of our filming in one day and had a lot of time to create a great slide show and that can be accredited to not only our time management but our great teamwork.