Control of Life

Author:     Zhiming Ou

                Mattermatics Learning Center

Publisher:    3265 Public Way

ISBN: 978-1-0677470-8-4

Summary

What controls our lives? The nervous system with the help of the sensory system. Human’s will is executed by the nerve cells or neurons. In human, except for the mature red blood cells (no nucleus, no DNA), and the sperm and egg cells (23 haploid chromosomes), every somatic cell contains all 20 488 genes. Apes have a genome similar to human; the difference is less than 1.5%. Why someone is smart, and someone is dumb?

The distinction comes from gene expression. Someone’s certain gene is inactive or not expressed, someone’s gene is active and well trained. Thanks to the understanding of flow of genetic information (DNA → RNA → Protein → Cellular function), nowadays, human can perform gene recombination and DNA cloning; we have genetically modified crops, animals. Even though the effect is not clear, and some ethnical and lawful issues exist, as the time passing on, human will live a better and better life.

Content for the Control Unit

Chapter 1 The sensory system           4

Main sensory organs

How Chemical Signals enter the nerves

Touch is detected by Skin

Taste and smell by tongue and nose

Hearing by Ears

Vision by eyes             11

 

Chapter 2 The Nervous System

  • 1 Tissue Structure 15
  • 2 Neurotransmission 25
  • 3 Neurotransmitters 37
  • 4 How do we memorize? How do we think? 47

 

Chapter 3 Gene Structure and Function          52

  • 1 Chromosome Structure 52
  • 2 Nucleic Acids 63
  • 3 Measuring DNA/RNA Molecules 76

Topological structure

  • 4 Structure of Genes 87

Regulatory sequences          89

One Gene-One Enzyme Hypothesis

Polymerase Chain Reactions

  • 5 Genetic Codes 93

Chapter 4 DNA Manipulation             95

  • 1 DNA Replication

Macroscopic Description

Chemical aspect of DNA synthesis

  • 2 DNA Repair

Direct Reversal of Damage

Nucleotide excision repair （NER）

Recombination repair

  • 3 Recombination and Transposition

Phase Variation

 

  • 4 Gene Expression 132

Stage 1 transcription

Particles involved in transcription    133

Transcription Factors         136

Detailed Steps for Transcription        137

Step 1 Template binding

Step 2 Initiation

Step 3 Chain Elongation

Step 4 Chain Termination

Step 5 Posttranscription Processing

mRNA processing

Intron splicing

Ribosomal RNA Processing

tRNA processing

 

Stage 2 translation         157

tRNA: structure, function and synthesis

Ribosomes       164

Detailed steps in Translation /Polypeptide Synthesis           167

Step 1 Chain initiation in 3 sub-steps        169

Step 2 Chain elongation in 3-stage cycle           173

Step 3 Chain termination             176

 

  • 5 Operon Model for Gene Regulation 180

Gene mutation              183

 

Chapter 5 Genetic Engineering                 184

  • 1 Vectors 186
  • 2 Electrophoresis 193
  • 3 DNA Cloning 196

Extract and purify DNA

The Biology of Restriction Enzymes           199

Cutting DNA with Restriction Enzymes            202

Isolation of DNA Fragments by electrophoresis        204

Joining DNA Fragments             205

Putting DNA Back into Cells         206

Cloning from RNA            208

Plaque and Colony Hybridization for Clone Identification          209

Arrest of Translation to Assay for DNA of a Gene         212

 

  • 6 DNA Sequencing 213

Enzymatic DNA Sequencing             217

 

  • 7 Genetic Mapping 220

Mapping by Recombination Frequencies            222

Mapping by Deletions             224

Branch Migration and Isomerization          226

Appendix: Human Chromosomes             227