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A cell is like a miniature and very complex factory that can make all the parts needed to produce a copy of itself, which happens when cells divide. There is a simple division of labor in cells—genes give instructions and proteins carry out these instructions, tasks like building a new copy of a cell, or repairing the damage. [6]
Efforts to understand how proteins are encoded began after DNA's structure was discovered in 1953. The key discoverers, English biophysicist Francis Crick and American biologist James Watson, working together at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, hypothesied that information flows from DNA and that there is a link between DNA and proteins. [2]
The genetic code: Using a triplet code, DNA, through a messenger RNA intermediary, specifies a protein. Genes express their functional effect through the production of proteins, which are molecules responsible for most functions in the cell. Proteins are made up of one or more polypeptide chains, each composed of a sequence of amino acids.
Measuring gene expression is an important part of many life sciences, as the ability to quantify the level at which a particular gene is expressed within a cell, tissue or organism can provide a lot of valuable information. For example, measuring gene expression can: Identify viral infection of a cell (viral protein expression).
In spite of the fact that both protein-coding genes and noncoding genes have been known for more than 50 years, there are still a number of textbooks, websites, and scientific publications that define a gene as a DNA sequence that specifies a protein. In other words, the definition is restricted to protein-coding genes.
DNA sequences that carry the instructions to make proteins are referred to as coding sequences. The proportion of the genome occupied by coding sequences varies widely. A larger genome does not necessarily contain more genes, and the proportion of non-repetitive DNA decreases along with increasing genome size in complex eukaryotes. [31]
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Gene structure is the organisation of specialised sequence elements within a gene.Genes contain most of the information necessary for living cells to survive and reproduce. [1] [2] In most organisms, genes are made of DNA, where the particular DNA sequence determines the function of the gene.