CEN 511: Recent Discoveries in Astronomy

1. Suppose there were 6 different bases involved in the structure of DNA. How do you suppose the genetic code would differ from the present code, given the necessity to encode approximately 20 - 22 amino acids? How many combinations could be encoded?
2. Suppose there were only 2 different bases involved in the structure of DNA. How do you suppose the genetic code would differ from the present code, given the necessity to encode approximately 20 - 22 amino acids? How many combinations could be encoded?
3. Check the numbers I gave in class and in the notes for
   1. The number of distinct proteins utilized by living matter
   2. The length of a human DNA molecule in feet if it were stretched out
   3. The length of a human DNA molecule in terms of the number of codons it contains
   4. The number of chromosomes in a normal bacteria cell
   5. The number of chromosomes in a normal human cell
4. Different organisms have different lengths of DNA. What is the entire range of DNA lengths, expressed in terms of the number of base-pairs or codons they contain?
5. Attempt to explain how it would be possible to "save" all the Earth's species from the biblical flood with an Ark. What geologic or paleontologic evidence exists to support this story?
6. Do you think Adam and Eve had belly buttons? If so, why did they have them?

What major reason supports the conjecture that nucleic acids were involved in living systems BEFORE proteins?

What could be used in favor of the hypothesis that proteins were involved in living systems BEFORE nucleic acids?