DNA and the genome - Learning outcomes to learn

Question 1

What is a primer?

Answer 1

A primer is a short strand of nucleotides which binds to the 3’ end of the template DNA strand allowing polymerase to add DNA nucleotides.

Question 2

How is the phenotype determined?

Answer 2

Phenotype is determined by the proteins produced as the result of gene expression.

Question 3

What is cellular differentiation

Answer 3

Cellular differentiation is the process by which a cell expresses certain genes to produce proteins characteristic for that type of cell.

Question 4

What can stem cells from the embryo do under the right conditions?

Answer 4

Stem cells from the embryo can self-renew, under the right conditions, in the lab.

Question 5

What does most of the eukaryotic genome consist of?

Answer 5

Most of the eukaryotic genome consists of non-coding sequences.

Question 6

What do single gene mutations involve?

Answer 6

Single gene mutations involve the alteration of a DNA nucleotide sequence as a result of the substitution, insertion or deletion of nucleotides.

Question 7

What do splice site mutations result in?

Answer 7

Splice-site mutations result in some introns being retained and/or some exons not being included in the mature transcript.

Question 8

What is translocation?

Answer 8

Translocation is where a section of a chromosome is added to a chromosome, not its homologous partner.

Question 9

What does duplication allow?

Answer 9

Duplication allows potential beneficial mutations to occur in a duplicated gene whilst the original gene can still be expressed to produce its protein.

Question 10

What is Evolution?

Answer 10

Evolution — the changes in organisms over generations as a result of genomic variations.

Question 11

What is natural selection?

Answer 11

Natural selection is the non-random increase in frequency of DNA sequences that increase survival and the non-random reduction in the frequency of deleterious sequences.

Question 12

What is natural selection more rapid in?

Answer 12

Natural selection is more rapid in prokaryotes.

Question 13

What is required to compare sequence data?

Answer 13

To compare sequence data, computer and statistical analyses (bioinformatics) are required.

Question 14

What does the comparison of genomes reveal?

Answer 14

Comparison of genomes reveals that many genes are highly conserved across different organisms.

Question 15

use of sequence data to study what?

Answer 15

Use of sequence data to study the evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms.

Question 16

What are sequence data and fossil evidence used for?

Answer 16

Use of sequence data and fossil evidence to determine the main sequence of events in evolution of life: cells, last universal ancestor, prokaryotes, photosynthetic organisms, eukaryotes, multicellularity, animals, vertebrates, land plants.

Question 17

What are molecular clocks used for?

Answer 17

Molecular clocks are used to show when species diverged during evolution.

Question 18

What is pharmacogenetics?

Answer 18

Pharmacogenetics is the use of genome information in the choice of drugs.

Question 19

What can an individuals personal genome sequence be used for?

Answer 19

An individual’s personal genome sequence can be used to select the most effective drugs and dosage to treat their disease (personalised medicine).