20th Century Medicine: DNA and genetics

Question 1

What is a gene?

Answer 1

Part of a cell that determines how our bodies look and work, passed from parents to children

Question 2

What are genes made from?

Answer 2

DNA

Question 3

What name is given to the complete set of DNA containing all the information needed to build a particular organism?

Answer 3

Genome

Question 4

What is the structure of DNA called?

Answer 4

A double helix

Question 5

Who took Photo 51, showing the structure of DNA, in 1952?

Answer 5

Rosalind Franklin

Question 6

Give two examples of technology used to discover DNA

Answer 6

Electron microscopes

Better X-rays using crystallography

Question 7

Which two scientists proved that DNA was present in every human cell in 1953?

Answer 7

Francis Crick and James Watson

Question 8

Why was the research into DNA so expensive?

Answer 8

It involved complex equipment and a number of highly skilled people

Question 9

Who funded most of the research into DNA?

Answer 9

The government

Question 10

In what year did the Human Genome Project begin?

Answer 10

1986

Question 11

What was the aim of the Human Genome Project?

Answer 11

To identify the exact purpose of each gene in the human body, compiling a complete map of human DNA

Question 12

In what year did the Human Genome Project complete its work?

Answer 12

2001

Question 13

How many countries took part in the Human Genome Project?

Answer 13

18

Question 14

Give THREE examples of conditions and illnesses with genetic causes

Answer 14

Any three from:

Breast cancer

Down’s Syndrome

Parkinson’s disease

Diabetes

Cystic fibrosis

Alzheimer’s disease