Biology AS Edexcel Snab Revision
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lifestyle-health-and-risk as19 主题
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diet-and-health interpreting-data-on-risk-factors
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diet-and-health treatment-of-cvd
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diet-and-health energy-budgets-and-diet
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diet-and-health monosaccharides
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diet-and-health the-glycosidic-bond
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diet-and-health disaccharides
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diet-and-health polysaccharides
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diet-and-health lipids-and-ester-bonds
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diet-and-health reducing-risk-factors-of-cvd
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diet-and-health practical-vitamin-c-content
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the-circulatory-system the-need-for-a-circulatory-system
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the-circulatory-system the-importance-of-water-in-transport
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the-circulatory-system mammalian-heart-structure-and-function
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the-circulatory-system blood-vessels-structure-and-function
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the-circulatory-system cardiac-cycle
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the-circulatory-system investigating-heart-rate
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the-circulatory-system atherosclerosis
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the-circulatory-system blood-clotting
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diet-and-health cardiovascular-disease
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diet-and-health interpreting-data-on-risk-factors
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genes-and-health as28 主题
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport properties-of-gas-exchange-surfaces
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport ficks-law-of-diffusion
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport the-mammalian-lung
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport cell-membranes
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport practical-investigating-membrane-permeability
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport diffusion-and-facilitated-diffusion
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport active-transport
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport osmosis
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nucleic-acids nucleotides-and-phosphodiester-bonds
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nucleic-acids dna-structure
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nucleic-acids rna-structure
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proteins transcription
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proteins translation
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proteins nature-of-the-genetic-code
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proteins amino-acids-and-peptide-bonds
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proteins levels-of-protein-structure
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proteins globular-proteins-structure-and-function
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proteins fibrous-proteins-structure-and-function
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proteins the-role-of-enzymes
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proteins mode-of-enzyme-action
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proteins enzyme-and-substrate-concentrations
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inheritance dna-replication
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inheritance mutations
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inheritance inheritance-key-terms
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inheritance pedigree-diagrams
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inheritance monohybrid-crosses
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inheritance chi-squared-test
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inheritance genetic-screening
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gas-exchange-cell-membranes-and-transport properties-of-gas-exchange-surfaces
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voice-of-the-genome as19 主题
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cell-structure-and-organisation cell-theory
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cell-structure-and-organisation eukaryotic-cells
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cell-structure-and-organisation prokaryotic-cells
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cell-structure-and-organisation organisation-of-cells
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cell-structure-and-organisation microscopy
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cell-structure-and-organisation magnification-calculations
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cell-structure-and-organisation recognising-organelles
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cell-division the-cell-cycle
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cell-division mitosis
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cell-division practical-identifying-mitosis-in-plant-cells
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reproduction-and-inheritance mammalian-gametes
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reproduction-and-inheritance fertilisation-in-mammals
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reproduction-and-inheritance genes-and-linkage
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reproduction-and-inheritance meiosis-source-of-genetic-variation
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differentiation-and-variation stem-cells
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differentiation-and-variation stem-cells-in-medicine
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differentiation-and-variation cell-differentiation
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differentiation-and-variation epigenetics
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differentiation-and-variation phenotypes-and-variation
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cell-structure-and-organisation cell-theory
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biodiversity-and-natural-resources as19 主题
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biodiversity the-variety-of-life
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biodiversity measuring-biodiversity-within-a-habitat
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biodiversity comparing-biodiversity-between-habitats
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biodiversity ecological-niches-and-adaptations
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biodiversity natural-selection
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biodiversity hardy-weinberg-equation
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biodiversity reproductive-isolation
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biodiversity classification
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biodiversity conservation-of-biodiversity
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resources-from-plants plant-cell-structure
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resources-from-plants plant-stems
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resources-from-plants importance-of-water-and-inorganic-ions-to-plants
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resources-from-plants starch-and-cellulose-structure-and-function
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resources-from-plants plant-fibres
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resources-from-plants practical-identifying-tissue-types-within-stems
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resources-from-plants tensile-strength-plant-fibres
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resources-from-plants development-of-drug-testing
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resources-from-plants antimicrobial-properties-of-plants
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resources-from-plants sustainability-and-plant-materials
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biodiversity the-variety-of-life
nucleic-acids dna-structure
Exam code:8BN0
DNA: Structure
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The nucleic acid DNA is a polynucleotide – it is made up of many nucleotides bonded together in a long chain

DNA nucleotide
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DNA molecules are made up of two polynucleotide strands lying side by side, running in opposite directions – the strands are said to be antiparallel
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Each DNA polynucleotide strand is made up of alternating deoxyribose sugars and phosphate groups bonded together to form the sugar-phosphate backbone. These bonds are covalent bonds known as phosphodiester bonds
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The phosphodiester bonds link the 5-carbon of one deoxyribose sugar molecule to the phosphate group from the same nucleotide, which is itself linked by another phosphodiester bond to the 3-carbon of the deoxyribose sugar molecule of the next nucleotide in the strand
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Each DNA polynucleotide strand is said to have a 3’ end and a 5’ end (these numbers relate to which carbon on the pentose sugar could be bonded with another nucleotide)
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As the strands run in opposite directions (they are antiparallel), one is known as the 5’ to 3’ strand and the other is known as the 3’ to 5’ strand
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The nitrogenous bases of each nucleotide project out from the backbone towards the interior of the double-stranded DNA molecule

A single DNA polynucleotide strand
Hydrogen bonding
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The two antiparallel DNA polynucleotide strands that make up the DNA molecule are held together by hydrogen bonds between the nitrogenous bases
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These hydrogen bonds always occur between the same pairs of bases:
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The purine adenine (A) always pairs with the pyrimidine thymine (T) – two hydrogen bonds are formed between these bases
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The purine guanine (G) always pairs with the pyrimidine cytosine (C) – three hydrogen bonds are formed between these bases
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This is known as complementary base pairing
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These pairs are known as DNA base pairs
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A section of DNA showing hydrogen bonding between base pairs
Double helix
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DNA is not two-dimensional as seen in the diagram above
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DNA is described as a double helix
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This refers to the three-dimensional shape that DNA molecules form

DNA molecules form a 3D double helix structure
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Make sure you can name the different components of a DNA molecule (sugar-phosphate backbone, nucleotide, complementary base pairs, phosphodiester bonds, hydrogen bonds) and make sure you are able to locate these on a diagram.
Remember that phosphodiester bonds join the nucleotides in the sugar-phosphate backbone, and hydrogen bonds join the bases of the two complementary strands together.
Remember that the bases are complementary, so the number of A = T and C = G. You could be asked to determine how many bases are present in a DNA molecule if given the number of just one of the bases.
Responses