Transcript Slide 1
DNA, Chromosomes & Genes Learning Objectives • To understand that cells are the basic building blocks for all living things • To be able to relate the structure of DNA to genes and chromosomes Like bricks are the basic building blocks for houses, cells are the basic building block for us! Here is an image of cells taken using a light microscope Now lets have a look at another cell taken using a much stronger microscope… This is a cell from the human intestines Inside our cells is a nucleus This darker area is the nucleus Like a recipe that gives the instructions to make a cake, the nucleus gives the cell the instructions to make the things it needs! It is our DNA stored in the nucleus that gives these instructions This is what our DNA looks like Our DNA is very long ? So how does it all fit into the nucleus? It is stored in chromosomes Here is a picture of a pair of pig chromosomes, we can see them because they have been made to fluoresce. Pigsishave 19 chromosome pairs total This a picture of a male pig’s fullinset of chromosomes Here are some human chromosomes inside a Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in total cell, which have also been made to fluoresce Different bits of the chromosomes do different things. ] These different bits are called genes. We have 2 copies of every gene, we get one copy from our dad and the other from our mum. Different genes tell us different things, like what colour hair to have, what colour eyes to have & whether to be left or right handed. Genes are very particular, like phone numbers - if you get a number wrong they won’t work! Fill in the blanks using the words at the bottom: ______ are the basic building blocks for life. Inside each ______ is one ______ . Our ______ is stored in the nucleus. Our DNA is very ______ so it is stored in ______. Different bits of chromosomes are called ______. Different genes tell our bodies ______ things . We have ______ copies of every gene. ______ in our genes cause problems. different two errors DNA nucleus cells chromosomes cell genes long Traffic light • I understand that cells are the basic building blocks for all living things • I can relate DNA to genes and chromosomes • Are you red, amber or green? Slide show produced by Chloe Williams. Image Credits: Cell and chromosome images kindly provided by Dr. Mar Carmena, Dr. Jim Selfridge and Dr. Heather McQueen from the University of Edinburgh Kindly funded by: