Genetic information storage and transfer

Question 1

How can we reduce phenotypic variation?

Answer 1

Take very similar genetic backgrounds and use very similar environments

Use knockout or gene-edited animals to examine roles of genetic changes

Use siblings or littermates

Question 2

Under what condition could we study the influence of the environment?

Answer 2

Clones

But many clones are not always identical

Question 3

Ethics with humans and cloning

Answer 3

Human cloning is unethical and banned in most counties

Human gene editing is also prohibited

Nuclear transfer can be used to avoid mitochondrial disease (three parent babies)

Question 4

How do identical twins occur?

Answer 4

A fertilized egg splits early during development = genetically identical and usually share similar environments.

If a condition is more commonly shared by identical twins than siblings, then there is likely to be strong genetic factors

Identical twins acquire more differences with age

Question 5

Why does everyone have a unique genotype?

Answer 5

Their genome is a randomized mixture of their parents contributed to by random fertilization, independent assortment of homologous chromosomes and crossing over

Question 6

What is a gene?

Answer 6

Most basic unit of inheritance that contains the information to code for a protein or functional RNA - which dictates the phenotype of an individual.

DNA was established to be the information carrier

Question 7

How to clone (a cat)?

Answer 7

Take an egg cell and remove genetic material

Fuse enucleated egg with a cell from the animal being cloned or transfer a nucleus from a donor

Zap with an electrical pulse to activate hybrid cell

Implant into surrogate and wait for delivery