Name: ________________________ Date: _______

Protein Synthesis Simulation Activity

Part 1: Introduction
DNA is a very long, thin molecule located in the nucleus. The DNA in one chromosome has 10s
of millions of base pairs and hundreds or thousands of genes. Yet an individual cell will only use
a small portion of those genes in its lifetime. Imagine a mechanic who spends a lifetime fixing
nothing but cars, but he or she is required nonetheless to carry around an entire library of repair
manuals for everything from kitchen sinks to washing machines to light fixtures to computers
and so on – all information the mechanic will never be able to use because s/he’s busy fixing
cars.
Another peculiar thing about DNA is that it is located
inside the nucleus, and pretty much stays inside the
nucleus, yet the proteins that DNA helps to make are
produced OUTSIDE of the nucleus. So how does the cell
solve this problem? It sends a “messenger” from the
nucleus to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm.
In a process called transcription, the DNA code is
transcribed (copied) into mRNA, following rules similar
to DNA replication we saw earlier (see below).
mRNA moves out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm
where it links up with ribosomes and begins churning out
proteins.
Recall that DNA consists of a sugar-phosphate backbone with a nitrogenous base. There are 4
different bases in DNA abbreviated with the letters A,T,C, & G. The code contained in DNA
derives from these 4 bases. We can think of them as letters in an alphabet that will spell different
words. In a real language, words can be anywhere from 1 letter long (a, I) to an upper limit of
10-15 letters for functional, non-compound words.
In DNA code, a “word” is always 3 letters long and is called a “codon.” Consider the following
DNA segment:

A T C G T C C A A A

T A G C A G G T T T

“ATC” is a codon. “GTC” is a codon. “CAA” is a codon. Etc.

In transcription, the DNA code is transcribed (copied) into RNA code, following rules similar to
DNA replication we saw earlier EXCEPT that:

DNA RNA
Matches with
1. Transcribe the following DNA sequence into mRNA. Draw a
A…………….U line separating each codon:
T……………. A DNA template = A T C G T C C A A A ….
C…………….G
G…………….C mRNA = ______________________________________

Activity modified from: ©M. Gatton, Professional Performing Arts School, New York, NY 1
http://www.middleschoolscience.org/blog/protein_synthesis_simulation_lab.doc
 2. Transcribe the following DNA sequence into mRNA. Draw a line separating each codon:
DNA template= T A G C A G G T T T ….
mRNA= _________________________________

Each mRNA codon corresponds to an amino acid that is transported to the RNA/ribosome
complex by another special nucleic acid called tRNA. “T” stands for transfer. The ribosome
essentially “reads” the RNA code and facilitates the linking of appropriate amino acids to make
proteins. Summary diagram:

DNA (in nucleus) transcribed to mRNA

mRNA leaves nucleus

mRNA to cytoplasm

mRNA hooks up with ribosomes.

Amino Acid Ribosomes scroll through mRNA

Chain

tRNA delivers amino acids to mRNA/ribosome complex

Enzymes link amino acids together to form a protein

Part 2: Questions
1. There are 64 possible codons using 4 letters (AUCG) with 3 letters per codon in any order.
However, there are only 20 amino acids, and each codon “codes” for one amino acid – so what
does this mean?

___________________________________________________________________________

The table below shows which amino acid corresponds with which codons.

Activity modified from: ©M. Gatton, Professional Performing Arts School, New York, NY 2
http://www.middleschoolscience.org/blog/protein_synthesis_simulation_lab.doc
 2. What does UAC code for?
_________________________

3. CAG? _________________

4. AGG?_________________

5. GAU? _________________

6. UUU? _________________

7. List all the codons for Valine:

________________________

8. Stop? _________________

9. Methionine is a “Start” signal.

What is its codon? ____________

Each amino acid is matched with one or more 3-letter “words.” The words are analogous to an
amino acid. When the words are put together they make a sentence. The sentence is analogous to
a protein. So, let’s break the following code.

10. Given the following DNA code, how would this segment be transcribed into mRNA?

DNA template = T A C C C G A T A C T C C C T T C A A T T

mRNA = ________________________________________________

11. Based on your mRNA sequence form #10, list the amino acids coded for in that sequence.
(Hint First, draw brackets under your mRNA strand at every three letters, then use these letters
to look on the chart for the amino acid they call for.)

___________________________________________________________________________

12. What is the silly little sentence that this codes for (see p. 4)?

___________________________________________________________________________

Activity modified from: ©M. Gatton, Professional Performing Arts School, New York, NY 3
http://www.middleschoolscience.org/blog/protein_synthesis_simulation_lab.doc
 Amino Acid – English word Table

Methionine Glycine Alanine Valine Isoleucine

START THE SAD RAT MET

Phenylalanine Histidine Tryptophan Proline Serine

RAN OLD FOE SLY CAT

Threonine Glutamate Cysteine Arginine Tyrosine

WHO SAW MAD ATE DOG

Asparagine Glutamine Aspartate Leucine Lysine

AND HIS FOR DAY BIG

STOP
.

In the remaining space, create your own messages and, working backwards, determine what the DNA
sequence would be:

Your message: ______________________________________________________________

Amino acid: ______________________________________________________________

mRNA sequence: ______________________________________________________________

DNA Sequence: ______________________________________________________________

Your message: ______________________________________________________________

Amino acid: ______________________________________________________________

mRNA sequence: ______________________________________________________________

DNA Sequence: ______________________________________________________________

Activity modified from: ©M. Gatton, Professional Performing Arts School, New York, NY 4
http://www.middleschoolscience.org/blog/protein_synthesis_simulation_lab.doc