GCSE: Size Order of: Nucleus, Chromosomes etc...
Biology discussion, revision, exam and homework help.
-
GCSE: Size Order of: Nucleus, Chromosomes etc...
Hello,
Kind of confused with regards the size order of the following: cell, nucleus, chromosome, gene and DNA... from what I've seen online there are a lot of different answers, but the most common one is (in descending order in terms of size):
Cell
Nucleus
DNA
Chromosome
Gene
But, I've just been studying this, and quoting from my textbook:
"Chromosomes are made up of large molecules of DNA..." and "A gene is a small section of DNA"... so surely if chromosomes are made up of DNA, then they must be larger, like proteins are larger than individual amino acids.
Any help would be much appreciated.Last edited by Instinct01; 22-04-2012 at 13:19. -
Re: GCSE: Size Order of: Nucleus, Chromosomes etcThe explanation in the textbook is right. A gene is a small section of DNA, in other words, a part of a chromosome. Yet, (and I'm only guessing,) the order of size you found out probably refers to the total amount of DNA in a cell, which consists of all 46 chromosomes (in humans, I mean).(Original post by Instinct01)
Hello,
Kind of confused with regards the size order of the following: cell, nucleus, chromosome, gene and DNA... from what I've seen online there are a lot of different answers, but the most common one is (in descending order in terms of size):
Cell
Nucleus
DNA
Chromosome
Gene
But, I've just been studying this, and quoting from my textbook:
"Chromosomes are made up of large molecules of DNA..." and "A gene is a small section of DNA"... so surely if chromosomes are made up of DNA, then they must be larger, like proteins are larger than individual amino acids.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Hope this helps!
-
Re: GCSE: Size Order of: Nucleus, Chromosomes etcOh... yeah, that makes a lot of sense so it's probably right, surprised I didn't think about that before!(Original post by sn8595)
The explanation in the textbook is right. A gene is a small section of DNA, in other words, a part of a chromosome. Yet, (and I'm only guessing,) the order of size you found out probably refers to the total amount of DNA in a cell, which consists of all 46 chromosomes (in humans, I mean).
Hope this helps!
Thank you very much
-
Re: GCSE: Size Order of: Nucleus, Chromosomes etcPleasure's mine!(Original post by Instinct01)
Oh... yeah, that makes a lot of sense so it's probably right, surprised I didn't think about that before!
Thank you very much