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Gum Drop Protein Synthesis
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by Richard Patterson
Athens Academy
Athens, Georgia
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To gain an understanding of how proteins are made.
Materials
- bases (codons and anticodons) = colored marshmallows:
A = pink
U = yellow
G = green
C = orange
- mRNA = red licorice strands
- ribosome = large sheet of paper, cut
- bonds = plain toothpicks (break in half)
- peptide bonds = colored toothpicks (break in half)
- tRNA = large marshmallows
- amino acids = small colored gumdrops
MAKE SURE YOUR HANDS AND TABLETOP ARE CLEAN BEFORE STARTING THIS LAB!
Procedure
You will simulate protein synthesis as follows.
1. Obtain a piece of red string licorice. This represents mRNA. Put it on a piece of paper that has been cut into two circles to represent a ribosome (don't forget the small and large subunits!). Follow the answer sheet and answer the questions as you continue.
2. Your section of DNA that you must "express" is as follows: TACCTAAAA.
Start with three colored marshmallows representing each codon in the mRNA. Attach these to the red licorice using colored toothpicks. Be sure to leave a ½- to 1-inch space between the codons.
3. Use three large marshmallows to represent three tRNA molecules. Using the plain toothpicks (cut in half), build a tRNA molecule with the correct anticodon (using small marshmallows). Attach an amino acid on the opposite end of each tRNA (using gumdrops and toothpicks -- see chart on next page).
5. Decide how you are going to manipulate the candy to carry out protein synthesis. Once you have worked it out, SHOW YOUR TEACHER THE PROCESS! Complete your tripeptide using colored toothpicks.
6. Congratulations! You have just made Nutrasweet (missing one minor chemical attachment)! Don't even THINK about giving it to your teacher!
7. Add six more base pairs randomly to your DNA chain (above) followed by a stop codon of your choice (hint: look at the Genetic Code). Complete the amino acid chain by adding to your Nutrasweetmolecule.
9. You may now "recycle" your nucleotides and amino acids! Not in the blue bin -- in your mouth!
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