Answer to Question #288040 in Genetics for Ali

Question

The gene for the human protein albumin spans a

chromosomal region 25,000 nucleotide pairs (25 kilo-

bases, or kb) long from the beginning of the protein-coding sequence to the end of the protein-

coding sequence, but the messenger RNA for this protein is only 2.1 kb long. What do you think accounts

for this huge difference?

Answer 1

This is because messenger RNA sequence verifies and refines the repeating homology in the triple domain structure of the albumin molecule. That makes the huge difference in length.