Final answer:
The student's DNA strand ATG CCA TTG translates into the mRNA code UAC GGU AAC. In transcription, adenine pairs with uracil, and cytosine with guanine. This mRNA code can then be used to determine the specific amino acid sequence in a protein.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding DNA to mRNA Transcription
To answer the student's question: If you have a strand of DNA that reads ATG CCA TTG, the corresponding mRNA code that would be created is UAC GGU AAC. Transcription involves converting the DNA sequence into an mRNA sequence. This process uses the rules of base pairing where adenine (A) pairs with uracil (U) in RNA, and cytosine (C) pairs with guanine (G), and vice versa.
The mRNA sequence is then used during translation to determine the sequence of amino acids in a protein, with each triplet of nucleotides, called a codon, corresponding to one amino acid. To determine the amino acid sequence from an mRNA strand, one can refer to a codon chart, which maps mRNA codons to their respective amino acids.
For example, if we reference the codon chart, we can deduce that the mRNA sequence 5'-AUGCCACGAGUUGAC-3' codes for the amino acid sequence Methionine-Proline-Arginine-Leucine-Aspartic acid (Met-Pro-Arg-Leu-Asp).