Exon
Definition
An exon is a segment of a DNA or RNA molecule containing information coding for a protein or peptide sequence. Exons are the sequences that remain in the mature mRNA after non-coding regions (introns) have been removed during RNA splicing.
Analogy
Think of assembling a complex model airplane, where each exon represents a crucial part or piece necessary to complete the model. Just as you would discard the packaging and unnecessary parts (akin to introns), keeping only what’s essential to build your airplane mirrors how cells keep exons and remove introns to construct a functional mRNA strand.
Related terms
Introns: Introns are non-coding sequences of DNA or RNA that are removed from the gene before protein synthesis.
mRNA (messenger RNA): mRNA is a single-stranded molecule that carries genetic information from DNA to the ribosome, where proteins are synthesized.
RNA Splicing: RNA splicing is a process during gene expression that removes introns from pre-mRNA and joins exons together, forming a continuous sequence that codes for a protein
Are you a college student?
Study guides for the entire semester
200k practice questions
Glossary of 50k key terms - memorize important vocab
Resources
© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.
AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.