Clue 1: Orient yourself
Which object stores the lasting instructions?
Use the labels and the picture's left-to-right, near-to-far, or before-and-after order. Name only what you can point to.
The question
Which object stores the lasting instructions?
Why it matters: Genetic results can change family counseling and research decisions. They must be interpreted without turning risk into destiny or an uncertain variant into a diagnosis. Today you practice the professional reasoning behind that work: IRF6 encodes a transcription factor that changes cell behavior by controlling other genes.
On your WebXam
Tracing a gene from DNA to mRNA to a transcription-factor protein
For life
Having a gene is not the same as using it.
Principle: Having it is not using it
Five principles we return to
Having it is not using it
Same instructions, different switches
Same look, different cause
Change one thing and watch
Boss or doorman?
Decides the result or only allows it
Held down, not gone
Remove the brake and it returns
Many roads, one ending
One result can begin many ways
Try the everyday version first
A recipe card becomes a kitchen supervisor
A cookbook stores many recipes, but a cook copies and uses only the recipe needed now. The copied directions guide which ingredients are turned into one dish.
Do not jump to the biology yet. Treat the picture as a small system. Track its parts, follow one change at a time, and keep more than one explanation open until the picture supplies a way to separate them.
Clue 2: Trace one change
What copy leaves the archive?
Follow one object, stage, or path. Point to the first place where the situation changes instead of jumping to the ending.
Clue 3: Keep the cause open
How can one supervisor change many stations?
List more than one explanation that still fits. Name the extra observation that would help you separate those possibilities.
Now inspect the illustration
Work from the visible evidence. A useful answer names the part of the picture that supports it and leaves unknown causes open.
- 1Which object stores the lasting instructions?
- 2What copy leaves the archive?
- 3How can one supervisor change many stations?
Tier 1 check
Finish with the everyday model
Use the everyday picture to answer today's question in plain words: Which object stores the lasting instructions?
You can complete today's required check without opening the technical details below.
Ready for the real names? Optional tier 2
Technical rules and limits
Rule 1: Instructions are copied into a working message.
Rule 2: The message is used to make a working part.
Rule 3: One control can direct other switches without building tissue itself.
Where the analogy stops: Genes do not contain recipes in words, and proteins do not make conscious decisions.
Carry the previous idea forward
Linkage follows inherited chromosome markers to narrow a gene's address before sequencing names the gene.
Today's technical takeaway
IRF6 encodes a transcription factor that changes cell behavior by controlling other genes.
Now map the same rules onto biology
Trace IRF6 from gene to regulatory protein
Recipe archive
IRF6 DNA
Work order
IRF6 mRNA
Supervisor
IRF6 transcription-factor protein
Educational illustration, not a clinical photograph or diagnostic result. Use the labeled evidence cards and claim ceiling.
Mateo's case file: evidence supplied in this lesson
GEN05-E1
Sequencing the linked 1q32 interval identified damaging variants in IRF6.
Why it matters: IRF6 was the gene supported by molecular evidence.
GEN05-E2
IRF6 is transcribed into mRNA and translated into a 467-amino-acid protein.
Why it matters: The gene produces a specific protein product.
GEN05-E3
IRF6 contains a DNA-binding domain and regulates epithelial differentiation genes.
Why it matters: Its main job is control of gene activity.
Make the clinical decision
You are explaining the gene discovery to a molecular team.
A new intern says IRF6 is a piece of lip tissue made directly from DNA.
ACorrect the path to DNA, RNA, transcription factor, target genes, and cell behavior.
BAgree that DNA becomes lip tissue directly.
CSay IRF6 is only a chromosome marker.
Choose the correction and cite gene-product and protein-job evidence.
Evidence required
GEN05-E1 + GEN05-E2 Claim ceiling
You may describe IRF6's molecular role. You may not say one IRF6 result explains Mateo without a case test.Go deeper Optional tier 3
Everything required for today is above. Open these only if you want the explainer, source trail, or download files.
The everyday model and Tier 1 check are the complete required path for this lesson.
Use these checks to keep your place. They are not turned in through the portal.
Check off as you finish
- Worked through the everyday picture and answered its three questions.
- Completed the Tier 1 check in plain words.
Turn in: Genetics lesson 5: The Gene at 1q32 Has a Name: IRF6, From DNA to Protein
Go to Schoology to turn this in.
Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf.
Open Schoology PDF upload helpIf you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
Optional legacy technical materials Open only if you want the original notes, vocabulary, artifact, and CER work
Before this page, you should know
- From the gene hunt, the gene's address is band 1q32.
- A gene is a stretch of DNA that carries the instructions to build a .
If not, review
Today's new idea is only
Today's new idea is only this: a gene matters through the it makes, and IRF6's protein is a switch that turns other genes on or off.
Goal: Students will trace a gene from DNA to mRNA to ( and ) and identify IRF6 as the gene at 1q32 that makes the IRF6 protein, a and the best-understood window into how clefts happen.
Know by the end
- The gene at 1q32 is IRF6 (interferon regulatory factor 6), identified by Kondo and colleagues in 2002 as the cause of .
- A gene becomes a in two steps: copies DNA into mRNA, and builds a protein from the mRNA at the ribosome.
- The IRF6 is 467 amino acids long and is a , a protein that binds DNA to switch other genes on or off.
- IRF6 mRNA is high at the medial edge of the fusing , the exact that must seal for the palate to close.
1
Naming the gene
Model start: The gene at 1q32 is IRF6 (interferon regulatory factor 6), identified by Kondo et al. in 2002.
- The gene at 1q32 is IRF6, identified by Kondo and colleagues in 2002 as the cause of .
- Mutations were found in 46 unrelated VWS families.
2
DNA to protein
- copies the DNA gene into a messenger molecule called ____ (messenger RNA), which carries the message out of the .
- then has the ribosome read the mRNA and build a chain of amino acids, the ; the IRF6 protein is 467 amino acids long.
3
Why IRF6 is powerful
- IRF6 is a , a that binds DNA and turns ____ genes on or off, so breaking it can throw off many genes.
- It is switched on at the medial edge of the fusing , which is exactly why losing it causes clefting.
Everything you need for today is on this page. These links are optional.
What to read
Read only the abstract of Kondo et al. (2002), plus the one sentence that says where IRF6 is switched on in the . Kondo S, et al. 2002. IRF6 mutations cause VWS and PPS. Nat Genet. [PMID:12219090]
Why this source matters
This is the paper that put a NAME on Mateo's exemplar gene, IRF6, and showed it is active in the exact that fails in a cleft.
Words to unlock first
Reading moves
- Skim the title and abstract first to get the gist.
- Circle the one sentence that states the main claim.
- Box the evidence the authors give for that claim.
- Mark one sentence that confuses you, and move on.
Stop point
You do not need the tables, the exact family counts, or the sequencing methods yet. Mark any sentence about lab technique and skip it.
Your output
Write one claim-evidence sentence: IRF6 is the gene, and the evidence is that mutations in it were found across many Van der Woude families.
Where this fits
Tested on (Ohio WebXam)
Genetics of Disease · 072130
PLTW lesson
MI · Genetics domain · Unit 4 When Organs Fail, 4.1 Manufacturing Human Proteins (central dogma)
WebXam domain
Molecular and Genetic Technology
Evidence to produce
Fill in the case file's molecular summary naming the 1q32 gene, the DNA-to-mRNA and mRNA-to-protein steps, and the kind of protein IRF6 is, then predict what could go wrong in palate fusion if the IRF6 protein cannot bind DNA.
Lab / skill
Medical Interventions (MI) · Principles of Biomedical Science (PBS)
Everything required for today's decision is already in the case file and plain-language explainer. The links below are original papers and database records for teachers and advanced readers, not assigned student reading.
- Claim: The exemplar gene we study is ____, located at 1q32.
- Evidence: In 2002, mutations in this gene were found in ____ Van der Woude families, and its mRNA is high in the ____ ____ of the fusing .
- Reasoning: A gene acts through its ; IRF6's protein is a ____ ____, so losing it disrupts the genes that close the .
How this is graded (rubric)
For: Fill in the case file's molecular summary naming the 1q32 gene, the DNA-to-mRNA and mRNA-to-protein steps, and the kind of protein IRF6 is, then predict what could go wrong in palate fusion if the IRF6 protein cannot bind DNA.
| Criterion | Proficient | Developing | Beginning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete | Every required part of the artifact is present and filled in. | Most parts are present, but one is missing or left blank. | Several parts are missing. |
| Accurate | The science and data are correct and match the evidence. | Mostly correct, with a small factual slip. | Key science or data is wrong. |
| Scientific reasoning (CER) | States a claim, backs it with specific evidence, and explains the reasoning. | Has a claim and evidence, but the reasoning is thin or missing. | Gives an answer with no evidence or reasoning. |
| Professional communication | Clear, organized, and labeled the way a clinician or scientist would write it. | Readable but disorganized or missing labels. | Hard to follow. |
| Submitted | Turned in through the route named under Submit here and confirmed. | Turned in, but in the wrong place or unconfirmed. | Not turned in. |
How the model answer scores against this rubric
- CompleteProficient: Nothing is left blank: the model fills every part of "Fill in the case file's molecular summary naming the 1q32 gene, the DNA-to-mRNA and mRNA-to-protein steps, and the kind of protein IRF6 is, then predict what could go wrong in palate fusion if the IRF6 protein cannot bind DNA.".
- AccurateProficient: Every number and claim matches the case evidence.
- Scientific reasoning (CER)Proficient: It names a claim, cites the specific evidence, and explains the reasoning, not just the answer.
- Professional communicationProficient: It is organized and labeled like a real chart note.
- SubmittedProficient: It would be attached to your class form or handed in, and confirmed.
What's next: Now that we have the exemplar gene IRF6, where do we look up whether a given variant in it is already known, and whether it is harmful?