Regulatory Region: Gene Control

Genes are not constantly being transcribed in order to make proteins. Rather, genes can be turned on or off in a cell. If they are turned on, the rate of transcription, and therefore protein production, can vary.

Below is a general schematic that shows some aspects of gene control. For now, we will just focus on the general concepts illustrated below.

The Entrez Books database provides additional details about gene control in eukaryotes versus prokaryotes and we encourage you to read more after the course. On the Entrez Books query page, a search for phrases such as gene control, gene switches, etc. will retrieve a number of resources. Some example textbooks that can serve as helpful references on this topic include Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Biology of the Cell.