a) explain how the nucleus and genetic material of eukaryotic cells (plants and animals) and the genetic material, including plasmids, of prokaryotic cells are related to cell functions

b) describe how to use a light microscope to observe a variety of plant and animal cells

PAG1

describe the genome as the entire genetic material of an organism

describe DNA as a polymer made up of nucleotides, forming two strands in a double helix

describe simply how the genome and its interaction with the environment influence the development of the phenotype of an organism, including the idea that most characteristics depend on instructions in the genome and are modified by interaction of the organism with its environment

Learners are not expected to describe epigenetic effects

explain the terms chromosome, gene, allele, variant, genotype and phenotype

explain the importance of amino acids in the synthesis of proteins, including the genome as instructions for the polymerisation of amino acids to make proteins

describe DNA as a polymer made from four different nucleotides, each nucleotide consisting of a common sugar and phosphate group with one of four different bases attached to the sugar

explain simply how the sequence of bases in DNA codes for the proteins made in protein synthesis, including the idea that each set of three nucleotides is the code for an amino acid

recall a simple description of protein synthesis, in which:
- a copy of a gene is made from messenger RNA (mRNA)
- the mRNA travels to a ribosome in the cytoplasm
- the ribosome joins amino acids together in an order determined by the mRNA

Learners are not expected to recall details of transcription and translation

recall that all genetic variants arise from mutations

describe how genetic variants in coding DNA may influence phenotype by altering the activity of a protein

describe how genetic variants in non-coding DNA may influence phenotype by altering how genes are expressed