Genetics : Laboratory Procedures and Important Historical Experiments

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Genetics

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Example Questions

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Example Question #11 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments

Choose the correct answer:

Russian biochemist Phoebus Levene is credited with being the first to __________.

Possible Answers:

discover the carbohydrate component of DNA (deoxyribose)

discover the order of the three major parts of a single nucleotide (phosphate, sugar, base)

discover the carbohydrate part of RNA (ribose)

all of these are correct

Correct answer:

all of these are correct

Explanation:

Levene accomplished all of these. He published more than 700 papers during his career. He used hydrolysis to break down and analyze yeast nucleic acids, proposing the composition of nucleic acids (phosphate, sugar, base) in 1919.

Example Question #124 : Genetics

Frederick Griffith’s 1928 experiment involved two different strains of Pneumococcus bacteria. What method of DNA transfer did the experiment demonstrate?

Possible Answers:

Conjugation

Transformation

The knocking out of a gene

Transduction

Homologous recombination

Correct answer:

Transformation

Explanation:

One strain of Pneumococcus was called smooth due to a protective capsule, and the other strain that lacked the capsule was called rough. Mice that were injected with the smooth strain died, and mice injected with the rough strain lived because their immune system killed the bacteria. Griffith also killed some of the smooth strain and found that when mice were injected with the dead smooth strain lived, but mice injected with both live rough strain and dead smooth strain died. He determined that the living smooth strain cells were being transformed by some material from the dead smooth strain. Later experiments proved this material to be DNA.

Example Question #12 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments

Which of the following can be used to separate fragments resulting from transcription of double-stranded DNA?

Possible Answers:

Northern Blot

None of the other answers is correct.

Western Blot

Southern Blot

Eastern Blot

Correct answer:

Northern Blot

Explanation:

The question is asking about separating mRNA fragments, not DNA fragments. Hence, the only procedure applicable is Northern blot. Southern blot is used for DNA, and Western blot is used for protein. In addition, there is no such thing as an Eastern blot.

Example Question #13 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments

The experiment performed by Hershey and Chase demonstrated which important concept?

Possible Answers:

Law of segregation

RNA splicing

DNA is the genetic material

Law of independent assortment

Protein is the genetic material

Correct answer:

DNA is the genetic material

Explanation:

The experiment performed by Hershey and Chase showed that bacteriophages insert their DNA into bacteria, and not their protein. This demonstrated that DNA is the genetic material, and not proteins. Law of independent assortment and segregation are both Mendelian concepts. 

Example Question #126 : Genetics

Which of the following individuals is typically considered the "father of genetics" for his important discovers about the rules of genetic inheritance using pea plants?

Possible Answers:

Albert Einstein

James Watson

Frederick Miescher

Gregor Mendel

Oswald Avery

Correct answer:

Gregor Mendel

Explanation:

Gregor Mendel was a German friar who lived in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He conducted a years-long series of experiments using pea plants in which he carefully tracked each plant's physical traits and determined how cross-fertilization (breeding the pea plant to another pea plant, rather than to itself) affected the plants' offspring. Seed color, flower shape, height, and pod shape were among the traits he studied. In the end, he summarized his work into three laws of heredity: the laws of segregation, independent assortment, and dominance. He also coined the terms "recessive" and "dominant," in reference to genetic traits.

Unfortunately, Mendel's work remained largely unacknowledged through his life. The importance of his studies was only recognized by other scientists decades after his death.

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