Question: How is it that cells read our DNA and genetic codes?

Hi lucychap11,

Really great question! So, you know that DNA codes your genes and that the cell uses this genetic code to make proteins? The proteins are the molecules that carry out all the work in the cell – to keep it alive.

But… as well as having the genes coded for, DNA also has special codes for where to “start” and where to “stop” reading, depending on what the cell needs at that point in time. First, enzymes called ‘polymerases’ copy the DNA that is needed – to make messenger RNA.

Then, tiny molecular machines called ‘ribosomes’ track along the messenger RNA strand and recruit amino acids to form the proteins.

BUT to make things more complicated, the DNA strand can me modified by marks that cause the DNA code to be interpreted in a different way – this is the EPIGENETICS!

In cancer cells, things can go wrong at the level of the DNA, the RNA and also the proteins that are made. And, of course the epigenetic marks that are on the DNA, that cause it to be interpreted in a specific way can also go wrong in cancer.

Hope this helps. 🙂