Question

What is the central dogma in molecular biology? Name the two processes represented in it. How has it been modified with the discovery of retroviruses?

Answer 1

Hint: Molecular biology 's core dogma describes the movement of genetic material, from DNA to RNA, to create a protein, a functional product.

Complete Answer:
The Central Dogma is the way the DNA instructions are converted into a functional product. Francis Crick, the discoverer of the structure of DNA, first suggested it in 1958.

The central dogma suggests that DNA contains the information required to produce all our proteins, and that RNA is a messenger to the ribosome that carries this information. The ribosomes serve as factories in the cell where the information from a code into the functional product is 'translated'. The process by which DNA instructions are converted into a functional product is called the expression of genes.

The central dogma notes that the information pattern that most commonly occurs in our cells is:
New DNA (DNA Replication) from existing DNA
New RNA (transcription) from DNA
Making new proteins from RNA (translation)

In two stages, a gene that encodes a polypeptide is expressed. Knowledge flows from DNA —>RNA—> protein, a directional relationship known as molecular biology 's central dogma.
There are two main steps involved in this process: transcription and translation.

In transcription, to create an RNA molecule, a gene's DNA sequence is copied.This step is called transcription, since the DNA sequence is rewritten or transcribed in a "alphabet" similar to RNA. In eukaryotes, to become a mature messenger RNA ( mRNA), the RNA molecule must undergo processing.

In translation, the mRNA sequence is decoded to determine a polypeptide's amino acid sequence. The translation of the name illustrates the need to translate the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA sequence into an entirely different amino acid 'language.' The nucleotides of the mRNA are read in groups of three called codons during translation. A specific amino acid or a stop signal is defined by any codon. The genetic code is known as this set of relations.

Reverse transcription is the transition to DNA (the reverse of normal transcription) of information from RNA.This is known to occur in retroviruses, such as HIV, as well as in eukaryotes in the case of retrotransposons and telomere synthesis. It is the process by which genetic material from RNA is transcribed into fresh DNA.

Note: It is becoming apparent with modern studies that certain components of the central dogma are not entirely correct. The focus of current research is to investigate the function of non-coding RNA. While the central dogma does not follow this, it still has a functional role in the cell.