General Biology I (BIOL 101) DNA to Protein Exam Review: Replication, Transcription, Translation, Mutations
University of California, Los Angeles
General Biology I (BIOL 101) | Exam Review

Overview
A BIOL 101 exam review for the DNA-to-protein flow: replication, transcription, translation, and how common mutations change the final protein and phenotype.

Key topics
•replication steps and key enzymes
•transcription and RNA processing vocabulary
•translation, codons, and reading frames
•mutation types and likely protein impacts
•practice translating sequences and spotting errors

Suggested study tasks
•label 10 replication/transcription/translation terms from memory
•translate 8 short mRNA codon sequences into amino acids
•classify 12 mutations as silent/missense/nonsense/frameshift
•walk through 5 gene-to-trait scenario questions
•make a one-page flowchart from DNA to protein with checkpoints

Common pitfalls
•mixing transcription and translation steps
•forgetting base-pairing and directionality
•assuming every mutation changes the protein
•losing the reading frame after an insertion/deletion
•skipping the stop codon and checkpoints