Thalassemia is an inherited genetic mutation that limits the production of the beta chain...

Thalassemia is an inherited genetic mutation that limits the production of the beta chain needed for the formation of hemoglobin. If low levels of the beta chain are produced, there is a shortage of red blood cells (anemia). As a result, the body does not have sufficient amounts of oxygen. In one form of thalassemia, a single nucleotide is deleted in the DNA that codes for the beta chain. This mutation involves the deletion of thymine (T) from section 91 (bold) in the following segment of normal DNA:

(Normal DNA segment)

a. Write the complementary strand for this normal DNA segment.

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b. Write the mRNA sequence using the complementary strand in part a.

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c. What amino acids are placed in the beta chain using the portion of mRNA in part b?

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d. What is the order of nucleotides in the mutation?

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e. Write the complementary strand for the mutant DNA section.

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f. Write the mRNA sequence using the complementary strand in part e.

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g. What amino acids are placed in the beta chain by the mutation?

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h. How might the properties of this segment of the beta chain be different from the properties of the normal protein?

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i. How might the level of structure in hemoglobin be affected if beta chains are not produced?