plumiDNA, RNA and protein synthesis: Edexcel A‑Level Biology A questions
Every Edexcel A-Level Biology A exam question on DNA, RNA and protein synthesis (specification points 2.5–2.8), 2016–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
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Q8(c)(i)
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Q5(a)(i)
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Q5(a)(ii)
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Q9(b)(i)
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Q9(b)(ii)
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Q4(a)(i)
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Q4(a)(ii)
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Q4(b)(i)
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Q4(b)(ii)
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Q1(a)(i)
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Q1(a)(ii)
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Q1(b)(i)
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Q1(b)(ii)
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Q8(a)(ii)
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Q4(b)(i)
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Q3(a)(i)
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Q3(a)(ii)
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Q3(a)(iii)
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Q3(b)(iii)
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All 69 questions on DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, as a list
- June 2025, Paper 1, Q8(c)(i) (3 marks): Explain how mRNA can be used to produce a specific protein to act as an antigen. (3)
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q5(a)(i) (1 mark): Which is the maximum number of different codons that there would be on the mRNA transcribed from this part of the gene? (1) A 6 B 7 C 10 D 21
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q5(a)(ii) (3 marks): The bases shaded are deleted from one strand in the mutated gene (Stage 1). T G T G A T G A A C A C T C C A C A G A A The two strands of DNA are held together b
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q9(b)(i) (1 mark): Which type of bond is hydrolysed by a restriction enzyme during gene technology? (1) A ester B hydrogen C peptide D phosphodiester
- June 2025, Paper 2, Q9(b)(ii) (3 marks): Determine the number of condensation reactions that occur when ligase joins a single gene to a bacterial plasmid. (3)
- June 2025, Paper 3, Q4(a)(i) (1 mark): Draw a circle around one base in the dinucleotide. (1)
- June 2025, Paper 3, Q4(a)(ii) (1 mark): State one difference between a nucleotide used to form RNA and a nucleotide used to form DNA. (1)
- June 2025, Paper 3, Q4(b)(i) (3 marks): Describe the roles of the ribosomes, RNA dinucleotides and trinucleotides and the tRNA used in this experiment. (3)
- June 2025, Paper 3, Q4(b)(ii) (4 marks): Some of the results for the amino acid lysine are shown in the table. Presence of tRNA with RNA dinucleotide or trinucleotide radioactive lysine on the used fil
- June 2025, Paper 3, Q7 (9 marks): *7 The word ‘complementary’ is often used when describing the shapes of biological molecules that interact with each other. Discuss the importance of complement
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (1 mark): Which base is present in RNA but absent from DNA? (1) A adenine B guanine C thymine D uracil
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which row shows the correct structure of these two molecules? (1) DNA Messenger RNA A double‑stranded double‑stranded B double‑stranded single‑stranded C single
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q1(b)(i) (1 mark): Which bond joins together mononucleotides in a strand of DNA and RNA? (1) A disulfide B glycosidic C peptide D phosphodiester
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q1(b)(ii) (3 marks): Give three differences between the process of DNA replication and the process of DNA transcription. (3) 1 2 3
- June 2024, Paper 1, Q8(a)(ii) (3 marks): Describe the role of ribosomes in the synthesis of lactase. (3)
- June 2024, Paper 2, Q4(b)(i) (2 marks): The DNA template strand is involved in the synthesis of mRNA. The anticodons of the first four tRNA molecules that carry amino acids into a ribosome are shown.
- June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q3(a)(i) (1 mark): Which labelled structure would contain the element phosphorus? (1) A P B Q C R D S
- June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q3(a)(ii) (1 mark): Structure R is different in a DNA nucleotide compared with an RNA nucleotide. Name structure R in a DNA nucleotide and in an mRNA nucleotide. (1) DNA nucleotide
- June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q3(a)(iii) (1 mark): Which of the following bases would be found in a DNA nucleotide, but not in an RNA nucleotide? (1) A Adenine B Cytosine C Guanine D Thymine
- June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q3(b)(iii) (4 marks): Describe the role of RNA in the formation of this polypeptide chain. (4)
- June 2023, Paper 1, Q3(a) (2 marks): Describe the structure of a DNA mononucleotide. (2)
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q7(b)(ii) (1 mark): EcoR1 is an enzyme that can be used in the process of genetic modification. This enzyme hydrolyses bonds in DNA producing sticky ends. The diagram shows a fragm
- June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (2 marks): Complete the diagram to show how a complementary pair of nucleotides would appear in a DNA molecule. (2)
- June 2023, AS Paper 1, Q1(b) (1 mark): The diagram shows the structure of a DNA nucleotide and a modified nucleotide called CeNA. O DNA nucleotide CeNA nucleotide Give one difference in the structure
- June 2022, Paper 1, Q5(c) (4 marks): A new technique known as gene silencing has been developed to treat this disease. Molecules known as small interfering RNA (siRNA) combine with mRNA to prevent
- June 2022, Paper 2, Q9(b) (6 marks): There is a gene in humans similar to the mouse coat colour gene. This human gene comprises 74 775 base pairs. The mRNA produced from this gene codes for a prote
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(i) (1 mark): Give the sequence of the first six bases of the DNA that was transcribed to give this mRNA sequence. (1)
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(ii) (1 mark): Give the maximum number of amino acids that would be in the part of the polypeptide chain produced from this mRNA base sequence. (1)
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(iii) (1 mark): Give the maximum number of different tRNA molecules that would be needed to produce the polypeptide chain produced from this base sequence. (1)
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q1(b) (3 marks): Describe the role of mRNA in protein synthesis. (3)
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q4(a)(i) (1 mark): The whole DNA double helix contains 24% of base P. Which of the following would be the percentage of base R in the whole DNA double helix? (1) A 24% B 26% C 48%
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q4(a)(ii) (1 mark): There are three types of bond labelled in this diagram: glycosidic, hydrogen and phosphodiester. Which row shows the types of bond labelled in the diagram? (1)
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q4(b)(i) (1 mark): Calculate how many bases there would be in the whole DNA double helix. (1) A 10 B 20 C 2120 D 4240
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q4(b)(ii) (2 marks): Calculate the length, in micrometres (µm), of the whole DNA double helix. Give your answer to two significant figures. (2) µm
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q4(c) (4 marks): The diagram shows a tRNA molecule. A C C Compare and contrast the structure of a DNA double helix with the structure of tRNA. (4)
- November 2021, Paper 1, Q8(b)(i) (3 marks): Explain why these antibiotics could affect the production of proteins in bacteria. (3)
- November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q5(b)(i) (1 mark): Which row in the table describes the structure of tRNA? (1) Bases Number of strands Type of sugar A A, C, G, U 1 deoxyribose B A, C, G, U 1 ribose C A, C, G, T
- November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q5(b)(ii) (1 mark): Mononucleotides all contain a base and a sugar as part of their structure. Name the other component of all mononucleotides. (1)
- November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q5(b)(iii) (1 mark): The mononucleotides of mRNA are joined together by RNA polymerase. Which part of the eukaryotic cell is the location for this process? (1) A cytoplasm B mitocho
- November 2021, AS Paper 1, Q5(b)(iv) (2 marks): Describe the role of the tRNA in the production of the protein part of a glycoprotein. (2)
- October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q2(a)(i) (2 marks): These shapes represent the components of DNA. pentose sugar phosphate group base Draw a DNA nucleotide using these shapes. (2)
- October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q2(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which row shows three components that can be found in a DNA molecule? (1) A glycosidic bond thymine deoxyribose B glycosidic bond uracil ribose C phosphodiester
- October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q2(a)(iii) (1 mark): In a molecule of DNA, 17% of the bases were guanine. What percentage of the bases in the molecule were thymine? (1) A 17% B 33% C 66% D 83%
- October 2020, AS Paper 1, Q2(c) (3 marks): Give three differences between replication of DNA and transcription of DNA. (3) 1 2 3
- June 2019, Paper 2, Q3(b)(i) (1 mark): A gene contains a number of base pairs. Of the base pairs in this gene, 50% are adenine and thymine. Q = the number of base pairs in this gene. Which of the fol
- June 2019, Paper 2, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Which of the labelled features in the liver cell contain RNA? (1) A 1 only B 1 and 3 only C 2 and 3 only D 1, 2 and 3
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q3(a) (1 mark): Which of the following is the minimum number of nucleotides present in the mRNA coding for haemoglobin? (1) A 287 B 574 C 861 D 6862
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q3(b)(i) (1 mark): An allele is a version of a gene. State what is meant by the term gene. (1)
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): Which part of the DNA molecule is shown? (1) A deoxyribose molecule B one mononucleotide C two complementary organic bases D two mononucleotides
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which type of bond holds the strands of DNA together? (1) A disulfide B glycosidic C hydrogen D peptide
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(a)(iii) (1 mark): Analysis of a sample of DNA found that 35% of the nucleotides contained thymine. Determine the percentage of guanine in the same sample of DNA. (1) Answer %
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(b)(i) (2 marks): Describe how mRNA is synthesised at a template strand of DNA. (2)
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(b)(ii) (3 marks): Describe the differences between the structure of DNA and the structure of RNA. (3)
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q7(c) (4 marks): The synthesis of mRNA occurs in a process called transcription. Compare and contrast the process of transcription with the process of DNA replication. (4)
- June 2018, Paper 1, Q4(a)(i) (2 marks): State what is meant by the term gene. (2)
- June 2018, Paper 1, Q4(a)(ii) (3 marks): Describe the role of tRNA in the production of leptin. (3)
- June 2018, Paper 2, Q10(d)(i) (2 marks): Describe how scientists could produce this short sequence of RNA needed to treat someone with MPS I. (2)
- June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q1(a)(iii) (1 mark): Which of these molecules is transported by tRNA? (1) A B C D
- June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q6(c) (4 marks): Explain how these labelled amino acids would be incorporated into a surfactant protein. (4)
- June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q8(a) (1 mark): DNA consists of mononucleotides joined together by bonds between (1) A deoxyribose and a phosphate group B ribose and a phosphate group C two pentose sugars D t
- June 2017, Paper 1, Q2(c)(ii) (3 marks): The table shows part of the gene that codes for the CFTR protein and the corresponding amino acid sequence. Each amino acid is represented by a single letter. P
- June 2017, Paper 1, Q3(b)(iii) (2 marks): Explain why the experiment would be improved if all the bases were provided but only the thymine was radioactive. (2)
- June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q7(a) (2 marks): Describe how nucleotides join together to form DNA. (2)
- June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q7(c) (3 marks): The diagram shows the structure of ATP. NH2 N N adenine N N CH2 O ribose O O− O O− HO P O P O P HO OH O O− O triphosphate Compare and contrast the structure of
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q5(b) (5 marks): Describe the roles of transcription and translation in the synthesis of a globular protein by a muscle cell. (5)
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q7(a)(i) (1 mark): State where transcription occurs in an animal cell. (1)
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q7(a)(ii) (1 mark): Which row shows the correct sequence for the complementary sense strand and the mRNA produced in transcription? (1) Sense strand mRNA A ATGCGACTG ATGCGACTG B TA
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q7(b)(i) (1 mark): State what is meant by the term gene. (1)
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q7(b)(ii) (1 mark): How many nucleotides in this gene contain the base adenine? (1) A 9000 B 18000 C 22950 D 45900
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