Score:

____/20pts

Group Name: ___________________________ Date: _____________

Introduction: In this activity, you will examine the DNA sequence of a fictitious organism -
the Snork. Snorks were discovered on the planet Dee Enae in a distant solar system. Snorks
only have one chromosome with 10 genes on it. Your job is to analyze the genes of its DNA
and determine what traits the organism has and then sketch the organism (You can be creative
here).

For simplicity, the gene sequences are much smaller than -real- gene sequences found in living
organisms. Each gene has two versions that result in a different trait being expressed in the
snork.

Genes Amino Acid Sequence Description (Phenotype)

val - ser - leu hairless
Gene 1 - Body Covering
val - ser - lys hairy
tyr - pro - glu - glu - lys Plump/ full round shape
Gene 2 - Body Style
val - pro - thr - glu - lys Very thin
leu - leu - leu - pro 3 legged
Gene 3 - Legs
leu - leu - ser - ala 2 legged
ala - val - val round head
Gene 4 - Head Shape
val - ala - ala square head
his - ile tail
Gene 5 - Tails
his - his no tail
ser - pro - val blue pigment (hair/skin)
Gene 6 - Body Pigment
val - phe - tyr red pigment (hair/skin)
asp - ile - leu - leu - pro - thre small slanted eyes
Gene 7 - Eyes
asp - ile - pro - pro - pro - thre large round eyes
val - asp - asp - ala circular mouth
Gene 8 - Mouth
asp - asp - asp - ala rectangular mouth
phe - ser - gly pointed standing-up ears
Gene 9 - Ears
phe - phe - gly rounded floppy ears
arg - tyr - cys - lys long spaghetti like arms
Gene 10 - Arms
arg - arg - asp - thre short stumpy arms
Each of the following DNA samples was taken from volunteer Snorks. Your job is to:

1. Transcribe the DNA to its complimentary mRNA strand.

2. Then translate the mRNA Codons to the tRNA Anticodons.
3. Use the provided Codon chart to determine the Amino Acid sequence.
4. Finally use the amino acid sequence to determine which phenotype the Snork has for each of the 10
genes.
5. Remember that AUG is a start codon, and UAA is a stop codon and signifies the end of a gene. The
genes are in order from gene 1 to gene 10.
 Snicker Snork’s DNA Code
START Gene 1 Gene 2 Gene 3 Gene 4 Gene 5
DNA TAC CAG TCG TTT ATG GGG CTT CTC TTT GAG AAT TCA CGC CGA CAA CAC GTA GTA
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype

Gene 6 Gene 7 Gene 8 Gene 9 Gene 10 END

DNA CAA AAA ATG CTA TAG AAT GAC GGG TGG CTG CTG CTA CGG AAA AGA CCC TCT ATA ACA TTT ATT
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype
 Snuffle Snork’s DNA Code
START Gene 1 Gene 2 Gene 3 Gene 4 Gene 5
DNA TAC CAT AGA TTT CAA GGA TGA CTT TTC GAA GAG GAG GGG CAA CGC CGA GTA GTG
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype

Gene 6 Gene 7 Gene 8 Gene 9 Gene 10 END

DNA CAT AAA ATA CTA TAA GAA GAC GGG TGT CAA CTG CTG CGT AAG AGC CCA TCT ATA ACA TTT ATT
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype
 Snapple Snork’s DNA Code
START Gene 1 Gene 2 Gene 3 Gene 4 Gene 5
DNA TAC CAG TCG GAA CAA GGG TGT CTT TTT GAG AAT TCA CGC CAA CGC CGA GTA GTG
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype

Gene 6 Gene 7 Gene 8 Gene 9 Gene 10 END

DNA AGA GGG CAT CTA TAA GGG GGG GGG TGG CTA CTG CTG CGT AAG AAA CCC GCG GCC CTG TGG ATT
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype
 Snoopy Snork’s DNA Code
START Gene 1 Gene 2 Gene 3 Gene 4 Gene 5
DNA TAC CAT AGG GAG ATG GGG CTC CTT TTT AAT AAT GAC GGG CGA CAA CAT GTA TAA
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype

Gene 6 Gene 7 Gene 8 Gene 9 Gene 10 END

DNA AGA GGG CAT CTA TAA GAA GAC GGG TGT CAA CTA CTA CGG AAA AGA CCA GCG GCA CTG TGG ATT
mRNA
(Transcription)

tRNA
(Translation)

Amino Acids

Phenotype
Based on the phenotypes of the 10 different genes of your Snork, draw a picture of your Snork. Use your Imagination!

Basic Snork Image

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. What is the relationship between a DNA molecule, a gene and a protein?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How does a DNA molecule determine the structure of a specific protein?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. How does a mutation in a gene affect the order of DNA bases?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________