Regulatory Elements
Definition
Regulatory elements are regions of DNA that can bind regulatory proteins to control gene expression, essentially turning genes on or off.
Analogy
Consider regulatory elements like light switches in your house. They control whether certain lights (genes) are turned on or off, affecting how much light (protein) is produced.
Related terms
Promoter Region: A specific DNA sequence where RNA polymerase attaches and starts transcription.
Enhancer Region: A segment of DNA that can bind proteins to increase the likelihood of transcription of a particular gene.
Silencer Region: A piece of DNA that binds repressor proteins to decrease or prevent transcription from occurring at certain genes.
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