Name Date Class

Section
11.1 DNA: The Molecule of Heredity
SC.F.2.4.2 The student knows that every cell contains a “blueprint” coded in DNA molecules that specify how proteins
are assembled to regulate cells. Also covers SC.F.1.4.1, SC.F.1.4.5, SC.G.1.4.3

◗ Before You Read

Have you ever used a combination to open a lock? Most combination locks have the numbers
1 through 50. With those numbers there are many possible combinations. Imagine a combination lock
with just the numbers 1 through 4 on it. On the lines below write as many combinations of those four
numbers as you can think of. This will help you understand how DNA can carry so much information.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

◗ Read to Learn
What is DNA?
Living things contain proteins. Your skin, muscles, and bones
contain protein. All the actions you perform such as eating, run-
ning, and thinking depend on proteins called enzymes. How is
Identify this related to DNA? Within DNA is the information for life.

Copyright © by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Details Highlight each ques- DNA contains the instructions to make all the different proteins
tion head. Then use another an organism needs.
color to highlight the answer
to the question.
How can DNA hold all that information?
DNA can contain amazing amounts of information because of
its structure. It is a very long molecule made up of repeating units
called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is made up of a simple sugar, a
phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. A nitrogenous base is
1. What three items form a a carbon ring structure that contains one or more atoms of nitro-
nucleotide? gen. In DNA, there are four of these bases: adenine (A), guanine
________________________ (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Because each nucleotide
contains just one of these nitrogenous bases, there are only four
________________________ different nucleotides in DNA.
Nucleotides join together to form long chains, or strands. The
________________________ phosphate groups and the sugar form the backbone of the strand
and the nitrogenous bases stick out like the teeth of a zipper.

114 Chapter 11 READING ESSENTIALS

 Name Date Class

Section
11.1 DNA: The Molecule of Heredity, continued

What does the DNA molecule look like? P

In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published a paper Phosphate P
S
correctly describing the shape of a DNA molecule for the first groups S
T A S
P
time. They said that DNA is made of two strands of nucleotides S S
C G
held together by the nitrogenous bases, the parts that stick out P P
S G C S
like zipper teeth. Adenine on one strand always joins with P
S
thymine on the other strand. Likewise, guanine always joins with S C GP
cytosine. They also noted that DNA was shaped like a long zipper P S
P P
that is twisted into a coil like a spring. Something twisted into a S A T S
coil is called a helix. DNA is made of two strands that are twisted P
S
S G C
into a coil, so it is called a double helix. The figure at the right P
P
C G S
shows an example of a double helix. S
P
A S
S T
P
How can DNA do so much with so little? Sugar-
phosphate
SS
P
P
If every organism is made up of the same four nucleotides, how backbone S T A S
P
can organisms be so different from one another? The key to vari- S A
S
T
ety in organisms is the sequence, or order, of the four nucleotides. P P
S G C S
For example, a nucleotide sequence of A-T-T-G-A-C carries dif- P
S
ferent information than the sequence T-C-C-A-A-A. It is the S T A
P
P S
sequence of nucleotides that forms the unique genetic informa-
P P
tion for every organism. In a similar way, words that have the S C G S
same letters but in different order have different meanings. TEA P
G C
is not the same as EAT or ATE. S
P
Copyright © by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Replication of DNA
For most organisms to reproduce, a sperm cell and an egg cell,
both produced through meiosis, must unite to form a fertilized
egg. From one fertilized egg, an organism with millions of cells
is produced through mitosis. Each cell in that organism has a
copy of the DNA that was in the original fertilized egg. As you 2. What is the purpose of
may recall, before a cell can divide, it must first make a copy of DNA replication?
its chromosomes. The DNA in the chromosomes is copied in a ________________________
process called DNA replication. If the DNA did not make a
copy of itself, new cells would have only half the amount of DNA ________________________
of their parents and could not grow and reproduce successfully.
Species could not survive. All organisms replicate DNA. ________________________

How does DNA replicate?

Remember that a DNA molecule is made of two strands of
nucleotides joined together like a zipper at the nitrogenous bases.
As you know, adenine on one strand always pairs with thymine on
the other strand. In the same way, guanine on one strand always

READING ESSENTIALS Chapter 11 115

Name Date Class

Section
11.1 DNA: The Molecule of Heredity, continued

C Bonding of bases
The sugar and phosphate parts
of adjacent nucleotides
bond together to form the
backbone of the new strand. New DNA
molecule

A Separation of strands
When a cell begins to copy its DNA,
the two nucleotide strands of a DNA
molecule separate. As the DNA
molecule unzips, the bases are exposed. P G Free nucleotides
D
P C
Original DNA strand
D
P New DNA
T New DNA strand molecule
D
P
G
D
P
T
P D

P D A

G A T
D G A C Original DNA strand
T
C
A D Results of replication
The process of replication produces
T two molecules of DNA. Each new
A C
molecule has one strand from the
original molecule and one strand
that has been newly synthesized

Copyright © by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

from the free nucleotides in the cell.
Original DNA B Base pairing
The bases in free nucleotides pair with exposed bases in the DNA strand.
If one nucleotide on a strand has thymine as a base, the free nucleotide
that pairs with it would be adenine. If the strand contains cytosine,
a free guanine nucleotide will pair with it. Thus, each strand builds its
complement by base pairing—forming hydrogen bonds—with free nucleotides.

pairs with cytosine on the other strand. During replication, the

DNA molecule unzips and separates. As the DNA unzips,
nucleotides that are floating free in the cell attach to the unzipped
3. Analyze When one DNA chains. On the unzipped strand where there is guanine, cytosine
molecule replicates, how will attach. The original DNA molecule continues to unzip until
many new DNA molecules
every base has become a pair and a new DNA molecule is formed.
are formed? (Circle your
choice.) In this way the original DNA strand serves as a pattern or tem-
a. one plate to make a new DNA molecule. Each new strand formed is a
b. two complement of one of the original strands. The result is two
c. four DNA molecules, each is the same as the parent molecule. The
figure above shows how DNA replicates.
When all of the DNA in all the chromosomes has been repli-
cated, the cell can divide, passing on the genetic information to
the new cell.

116 Chapter 11 READING ESSENTIALS

 Name Date Class

Section
11.1 DNA: The Molecule of Heredity, continued

◗ After You Read

Mini Glossary
DNA replication: process in which the DNA in the nitrogenous base: carbon ring structure found in
chromosome is copied DNA molecules that contains one or more
double helix: shape of a DNA molecule consist- atoms of nitrogen
ing of two strands of nucleotides that are
twisted into a coil and held together by the
nitrogenous bases

1. Read the key terms and definitions in the Mini Glossary above. Use each term in a sentence
that shows your understanding of the term.
____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

phosphate

T A G
C G
T sugar
A T
Copyright © by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

G C T nitrogen base
A A

2. Moving from left to right, write the letters (A, T, C, or G) in the empty circles of the bases
that will pair with the bases on the top strand. The first three pairs have been completed
for you.

3. Circle the letter of the correct statement below.

a. The illustration above is of a DNA molecule unzipping.
b. The illustration above is of a DNA strand replicating.

Visit the Glencoe Science Web site at science.glencoe.com to find

your biology book and learn more about DNA: the molecule of heredity.

READING ESSENTIALS Chapter 11 117