Genetics : Laboratory Procedures and Important Historical Experiments
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Genetics
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments
Choose the correct answer:
Russian biochemist Phoebus Levene is credited with being the first to __________.
all of these are correct
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
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 #12 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments
Frederick Griffith’s 1928 experiment involved two different strains of Pneumococcus bacteria. What method of DNA transfer did the experiment demonstrate?
Transformation
Conjugation
The knocking out of a gene
Homologous recombination
Transduction
Transformation
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 #13 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments
Which of the following can be used to separate fragments resulting from transcription of double-stranded DNA?
Western Blot
None of the other answers is correct.
Northern Blot
Southern Blot
Eastern Blot
Northern Blot
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 #14 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments
The experiment performed by Hershey and Chase demonstrated which important concept?
Law of independent assortment
DNA is the genetic material
Law of segregation
RNA splicing
Protein is the genetic material
DNA is the genetic material
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 #15 : Laboratory Procedures And Important Historical Experiments
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?
Gregor Mendel
Albert Einstein
Frederick Miescher
Oswald Avery
James Watson
Gregor Mendel
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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