Parade of Animations - Protein Synthesis

Growing up you learned that DNA holds the genetic code and determines what you look like and "why you are the way you are." Before today the "how" and the "why" of this concept was never really explained.*

Source

Protein synthesis, like most biological processes, is complicated and uses new vocabulary that you haven't ever learned before. To help I wanted to share some other places you can go online to help you understand.**

Here are a few good ones:

1. Lew-Port's Biology Place (originally here) - a really great, simple animation of the process.

2. Wisc-Online - another really good, simple animation

3. yourgenome.org - DNA to protein (from a computer click on the flash link about halfway down) - we haven't talked about introns and exons yet, but the transcription/translation animations are pretty cool.

4. John Kyrk's Transcription and Translation - if you want a view of the molecules in action as molecules, this is the place to go.

5. Learn.Genetics - practice transcription and translation

6. Interactive Concepts in Biochemistry - more complicated than today's talk or the ones above, but a solid animation.

If you're just curious about different types of proteins, this part of the Learn.Genetics site is amazing (well it's all just amazing. Period. Seriously. Bookmark it). Just want to know more about DNA, RNA, genes, proteins, and the central dogma? THIS IS A GOLDMINE***

* Yeah, I know it's still not fully explained, but you know a whole lot more now. It's tempting to think of your life as "Before Protein Synthesis" and "After Protein Synthesis." There's a support group for that. We meet in my room during tutorials. Stop by.

**Sometimes looking at too many different things can be confusing, but if you understand the big ideas behind each of the models then it can be very beneficial to see it from as many different perspectives as possible.

***I told you to bookmark it.

Protein Synthesis...Wait. What?

At the end of a long week it's good to take a moment to reflect. In addition to early week testing we've discussed some crucial topics this week. 

Sometimes protein synthesis can do this to a student

On the way out of my classroom I wished you all a good weekend, but here's a few other wishes and hopes I have for you:

1. Take some time to refresh your brains and look back on this week's topics with fresh eyes. You may notice something you didn't see before*. After you've rested, look for outside sources. It may not be the first thing you find, or the second, or the third, but there is so much information out there. Find what helps you.

2. Spend some time outside.**

3. Be creative. 

* Ex: this video

** Even if it's raining a little - maybe even more so if it is.