Section IA

Question 1

What is a restriction endonuclease

Answer 1

bacterial enzyme that hydrolyzes DNA as a defense mechanism

-recognizes specific sequences

Question 2

What is southern blotting?

Answer 2

• permits identification of DNA fragments through complementary binding to a probe
• Involves the use of restriction enzymes, electrophoresis, nitrocellulose sheets, and radioactive probes.

Question 3

What are RFLPs? How are they used to diagnose genetic diseases?

Answer 3

• Restriction fragment length polymorphisms
• If a point mutation occurs at a restriction site, fragments of a different length than the norm will be produced.
• Specific known mutations can be diagnosed using restriction enzymes and comparing the lengths

Question 4

What is northern blotting?

Answer 4

It is the same as southern blotting, just used for RNA identification.

Question 5

What is western blotting?

Answer 5

-Similar to southern blotting, but used to identify a protein by binding to its antibody.