Question
Question: How is gene expression related to the central dogma of molecular biology?...
How is gene expression related to the central dogma of molecular biology?
Solution
The central dogma of molecular biology explains the flow of genetic information, from RNA to DNA, to make a functional product, a protein.
It came into existence in 1958 by the scientist Francis Crick, a discoverer of the structure of DNA.
Complete answer:
The central dogma is the process where the instructions in DNA are converted into a varied functional product. The central dogma informs that DNA contains important information which is needed to make all of our body proteins, and that RNA is known as a messenger that carries this information to the ribosomes. The ribosomes serve as the factories in cells where all the information is translated from a code into the functional product.
Gene Expression is the process by which the genetic code of the nucleotide sequence of a gene is involved in the synthesis of a functional gene product. Gene expression involves various steps through which DNA is converted into RNA which in turn converted into protein.
There are two main stages which include:
-Transcription: it is the process of production of messenger RNA (mRNA) with the help of enzyme RNA polymerase.
-Translation: process of conversion of RNA into protein.
The Key phases in gene expression are given below:
-Transcription: conversion of DNA to RNA
-Post-transcriptional modifications: it involves the modification of primary RNA to produce mRNA. The processes involved are: Splicing, Capping, Tailing
-RNA transport (In Eukaryotes)
-Translation or protein synthesis
-Protein folding and modifications
Note: The dogma is a modern version of the Weismann barrier (after August Weismann). It is the principle of hereditary information which moves only from genes to body cells, and never in reverse. Gene expression involves various steps through which DNA is converted into RNA which in turn converted into protein.