SB4 - Natural Selection and Genetic Modification

Question 1

alleles

Answer 1

Most genes come in different versions called alleles.

Question 2

antibiotics

Answer 2

Medicine that helps people recover from a bacterial infection, killing the pathogen

Question 3

Ardi

Answer 3

The nickname for a 4.4 million year old fossilised specimen of Ardipithecus ramidus that was discovered in Ethopia.

Question 4

artificial selection

Answer 4

When people choose organisms with certain characteristics and use only those ones for breeding

Question 5

binomical system

Answer 5

The system of naming organisms using two latin words

Question 6

biological control

Answer 6

Using organisms to kill problem organisms, such as pests or weeds.

Question 7

breeds

Answer 7

A group of animals of the smae species that have characteristics that make them different to other members of the species.

Question 8

Bt toxin

Answer 8

A natural insectiside made by the bacterium Bacillus thuringinesis that kills some kind of catepillar.

Question 9

callus

Answer 9

A clump of undifferentiated cells.

Question 10

classification

Answer 10

The process of sorting organisms into groups based on their characteristics

Question 11

competitition

Answer 11

When organisms need the same resources as eachother, they struggle against each other to get those resources.

Question 12

disease resistance

Answer 12

Unaffected or less affected by a certain disease

Question 13

domains

Answer 13

Three main groups that organisms are now sorted into; Archea, Bacteria nad Eukarya

Question 14

extinction

Answer 14

When a species dies out.

Question 15

fertilisers

Answer 15

Substances that add plant nutrients to soil, such as artificial fertilisers containing nitrogen or manure.

Question 16

genes

Answer 16

A section of the long strand of DNA found in a chromosome that often contains instructions for a specific protein.

Question 17

genetic engineering

Answer 17

Altering the genome of an organism, ususally by adding genes from another species.

Question 18

genetic variation

Answer 18

Differences between organisms caused by differences in the alleles they inherit from their parents, or differences in genese caused by mutation.

Question 19

genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Answer 19

An organism that has had its genome artificially altered.

Question 20

genome

Answer 20

All the DNA in an organism. Each body cell contains a copy of the genome.

Question 21

genus

Answer 21

A classification group for the closely-related species with similar characteristics.

Question 22

insecticides

Answer 22

A substance used to kill animal pests.

Question 23

insulin

Answer 23

A hormone that decreases blood glucose concentration. It is used in the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes.

Question 24

kingdoms

Answer 24

There are five kingdoms into which organisms are usually divided; plants, animals, fungi, protists and prokaryotes.

Question 25

Lucy

Answer 25

The nickname for a 3.2 million-year-old fossilised specimin of Australopithecus afaensis

Question 26

natural selection

Answer 26

A process in which certain organisms are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species because they possess certain genetic variations.

Question 27

pentadactyl limb

Answer 27

A limb that has five digits (fingers and/or thumbs)

Question 28

pests

Answer 28

Animals that cause problems

Question 29

pollution

Answer 29

Harm caused to the environment, such as by adding poisonous substances, or by abnormally high amounts of substance to air.

Question 30

resistance

Answer 30

When an organism has resistance to something, it is unaffected by it, or not very much.

Question 31

selective breeding

Answer 31

When humans choose an organism that has a certain characteristic and breed more of these organisms, making that chosen characteristic more and more obvious.

Question 32

species

Answer 32

A group of organisms that can reproduce with each other to produce offspring that will also be able to reproduce

Question 33

stem cells

Answer 33

An unspecialisd cell that continues to divide by mitosis to produce more stem cells and other cells that differentiate into specialised cells.

Question 34

strains

Answer 34

Bacteria of a species that are slightly different from other strains of the species.

Question 35

tissue culture

Answer 35

Growing tiny pieces of tissue, or cells in a lab.

Question 36

type 1 diabetes

Answer 36

A type of diabetes in which the pancreas does not produce insulin

Question 37

varieties

Answer 37

Groups of plant of the same species that have characteristics that make them different to other members of the species.

Question 38

viruses

Answer 38

A particle that can infect cells and cause the cells to make copies of the virus.

Question 39

weeds

Answer 39

Plants that cause problems, such as by competing with crop plants for light, water and nutrients.

Question 40

yield

Answer 40

The amount of useful product that you can get from something.