you have just learned that a chemical you work with is a mutagen. what effect does this chemical have? a. increases the risk of
physical defects in a developing embryo b. increases the risk of cancer c. irritates the lining of the throat d. causes a permanent change in the genetic material (dna)
The effect does the chemical referred to as a mutagen has is it causes a permanent change in the genetic material (dna) and is denoted as option D.
<h3>What is DNA?</h3>
This is referred to as deoxyribonucleic acid and is the genetic material in living organisms.
Mutagen on the other hand are agents which cause mutations which means alterations in the DNA of organisms. It affects the transcription and replication of the DNA thereby leading to cell death and other effects such as diseased condition.
This is therefore the reason why option D was chosen as the most appropriate choice.
Viruses do not possess any machinery necessary for the purpose of their reproduction.
They only possess their genetic material enclosed within a capsid structure.
The capsid is constituted of glycoproteins.
They completely depend upon the components and organelles of the host cells whom they infect to help them carry out their reproduction process.
After infecting a host cell, the viruses hijack all the machinery and components of the host cell and use them for the purpose of transcribing their genetic material (DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid) to produce the virus-specific mRNAs (messenger Ribonucleic Acid).
These mRNAs are further translated into virus-specific proteins using the host-specific Ribosomes. These virus-specific proteins are required for replicating the viral genetic material and producing the capsid structure.
The virus-specific proteins and glycoproteins are synthesized by utilizing the raw materials from the host cells.
Transcription is the process by which an enzyme called RNA polymerase or DNA dependent RNA polymerase copies the protein coding region of the DNA (gene) in the form of an RNA sequence (mRNA).
The synthesis of the mRNA happens in the 5' to 3' direction. This mRNA is further recognized and converted into the amino acid sequence with the help of the Ribosome.
The amino acid sequence folds to give rise to the protein.