Genomics

Question 1

Genome

Answer 1

An organism’s entire hereditary information encoded in its DNA. It is made up of coding and non-coding regions.

Example sentence: The human genome consists of approximately 3 billion base pairs.

Question 2

Genomic sequencing

Answer 2

Sequence of nucleotide bases is determined for individual genes and entire genomes using computer programmes.

Question 3

Bioinformatics

Answer 3

The use of computer and statistical analyses to compare sequence data.

Question 4

Sequenced genome examples

Answer 4

Disease causing organisms, pest species, species that are important model organisms for research.

Question 5

Pharmacogenetics

Answer 5

An individual’s genome can be analysed to predict the likelihood of developing certain diseases. This information can then be used in the choice of drugs.

Question 6

Personalised medicine

Answer 6

Use of genome sequence information to select the most effective drugs and dosage to treat their disease.

Question 7

Phylogenetics

Answer 7

Study of evolutionary history and relationships. Uses fossil evidence and sequence data.

Question 8

Domains of life

Answer 8

Living things can be categorised into three groups: archaea, prokaryotes and eukaryotes

Question 9

Sequence data

Answer 9

Used to study the evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms.

Question 10

Sequence divergence

Answer 10

Used to estimate time since lineages diverged.

Question 11

Molecular clocks

Answer 11

Used to show when species diverged during evolution. They assume a constant mutation rate and show differences in DNA sequences or amino acid sequences.

Question 12

Evolution

Answer 12

Cells, last universal ancestor, prokaryotes, photosynthetic organisms, eukaryotes, multicellularity, animals, vertebrates, land plants.