BIO 171  - Fourth Exam  - 2014

Each question's number is linked to the relevant part of the online book, if possible (some questions relate to multiple sections).

 

Multiple Choice. 

 

            Place the letter of the choice that best answers the question on the line to the left. 

                        Two Points Each.   NOTE: “e” answers are never the correct answer.

 

 

_______ 1.   DNA was for a long time rejected as a carrier of genetic information because

                        a.  It was only active during cell division

                        b.  It was made up of too few components

                        c.  It has no tertiary structure

                        d. All of these

                        e.  It didn’t have enough initials

 

 

_______ 2.    Electrophoresis separates molecules based upon

                        a.   Chemical activity and conductivity

                       b.   Size and overall charge

                        c.   Chemical activity and breakdown products      

                        d.   Volatility and mass

                        e.   A few simple survey questions

 

 

_______ 3.    DNA is cut into bits for electrophoresis using

                        a.  Acids                      b.  Viral components               c.  Restriction enzymes

                        d.  Bile                                    e.   The world’s teensiest scalpels

 

 

_______ 4.   Carrying capacity is strongly affected by

                        a.  Metamorphosis                               b.  Polyploidy

                        c.  Genetic redundancy                       d.  Differentiation

                                                e. Your squat limits

 

 

_______ 5.  Drugs for rare conditions or conditions in poor countries are called

                        a.  Nonprofit drugs                                b.  Lower strata drugs

                        c.  Low priority drugs                           d.  Orphan drugs

                                    e.  Does anybody even make those? 

  

 

_______ 6.    When conditions change, there are often already mutations within a

                                    population that give advantages to the new conditions. 

                                    What explains how those mutations were just “hanging

                                    around” to be there when relevant?

                        a.  Cell cycle order                              b.  Hardy-Weinberg rule

                        c.  Isolation types                                d.  Position effect

                                             e.  The Theory of Genetic Street Corners

 

 

_______ 7.    Plants use fungal symbionts

                        a.  To mobilize nitrogen                      b.  To absorb water

                        c.  To fight off pathogens                   d.  To make ATP

                                                e.  For company

 

 

_______ 8.    Which is considered a frameshift mutation?

                        a.  Translocation                              b.  Substitution

                        c.   Insertion                                    d.  Inversion

                                    e.  Is it too late to drop this class?

 

  

_______ 9.    Crossing over can

                        a.  Create mutations                                  b.   Add genes

                        c.  Break linkage                                       d.  All of these

                                    e.  Greatly increase music sales

 

  

_______ 10.    When a new drug appears on the market, how much time is typically left

                                    on the patent period?

                        a.  50 years                              b.  Six months

                        c.  4 years                                d.  Sixteen years

                                                e.  A fortnight

 

  

_______ 11.  Chaperonins and prions are both involved in

                        a.  Transcription                                  b.  Translation

                        c.   DNA repair                                   d.   Protein folding

                        e.   Making all of these terms confusing

 

 

_______ 12.   Monoclonal antibody production utilizes cultures of hybrids of

                        a.  Bone marrow cells and stem cells

                        b.  Spleen cells and cancer cells

                        c.  Antigen cells and antibody cells

                        d.  Fibroblast cells and blood cells

                        e.  Mono cells and body cells, anti variety

 

 

_______ 13.   The “plant problem” relates to

                        a.  Low light levels                              b.  Life’s beginnings

                        c.  Mass extinctions                            d.  Moving to land

                        e.  Buying certain kinds without getting arrested

 

 

_______ 14.  Mass extinction events would be likely to also produce a lot of

                        a.  Founder effects                              b.  Respiratory alterations

                        c.  Point mutations                              d.  Bottleneck effects

                                                e.  Orphan Facebook pages

 

_______ 15.   A post doc is most like

                        a.  Undergraduate classes                   b.  Industry research

                        c.  Graduate school                             d.  Tech training classes

                                                e.  A guy who fixes fences

 

 

_______ 16.   Which is not a likely cause of mass extinctions?

                        a.  Asteroid impact                              b.  Volcanoes

                        c.  Ice age                                            d.  Disease

                                    e.  Widespread credit card debt

 

 

_______ 17.   The rationale behind the RNA World hypothesis is based on RNA’s

                        a.  Enzymatic and coding capabilities

                        b.  Energy- shifting ability

                        c.  Presence at the very formation of the Earth

                        d.  Biological activity and simplicity

                        e.  Sounding like some sort of megacorporation

 

 

_______ 18.   Which uses tagged RNA?

                        a.  Flourescence                                   b.  Mass spectroscopy

                        c.  Southern blot                                  d.  Electrophoresis

                                    e.  Do you knock it out to put the tag on it?

 

Short Answer.   

 

Pick NINE questions to answer in the spaces provided.

NOTE: if you answer MORE than nine, only the first nine will be corrected. 

Four Points each.   Partial credit is possible.

1.   Briefly explain how auxins contribute to geotaxis is a sprouting -
ROOT -	STEM -

2.   Two necessary features of “pre-Life” molecules.

3.  So-called evo-devo is a discipline very concerned with genetic expression.  Explain why.

4.   What are two unusual features of strains of knockout mice?

5.   From the standpoint of tissue types, what are two different basic functions that are associated with particular tissues in both plants and animals?

6.   Give an example of how apoptosis contributes to human development.

7.  What is Arabidopsis thaliana?

8.   What challenge from the movement of organisms from aquatic to land environment was “solved” by the evolution of pollen?

9.    Plasmids can produce a kind of quasi-sexual reproduction.  Explain how.

10.   The two likeliest staging areas from which aquatic organisms moved onto the land:

11.  What are two different general types of life cycles that are associated with alternation of generations?

12.  What are DNA banding patterns?

13.  When radiation cause multiple DNA breaks, give two different ways that the damage can lead to cell death.

14.  Briefly explain why most genetic diseases are recessive.

15.  Bioinformatics requires expertise in what non-biological, non-math field?

16.  For high chromosome numbers, compared to low ones -
ADVANTAGE?	DISADVANTAGE?

17.  For genetic engineering, plasmid vectors typically carry two different types of genes.  What are those types?

 

 

Long Answer.  

 

Select and answer completely any four of the following questions.

Note:  if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.

Seven Points Each.  Partial credit is possible.

1.   For each step in the theoretical development of Life on Earth, put them in chronological order, from earliest to latest, 1 - 8 in the boxes to the left.
	Photosynthesis		Primordial Soup		Life on Land		"Snowball" Period
	Molecular Evolution		Prokaryote Cells		Aerobic Respiration		Cambrian     Explosion

 

 

2.   For the four experimental "systems" listed below, give a critical discovery in genetics history that was made using them.
PEA PLANTS
DROSOPHILA FRUIT FLIES
NEUROSPORA MOLD
BACTERIOPHAGE VIRUSES

 

3.    Describe (a simple term is not enough) three different ways that groups can become reproductively isolated.

 

4.   What happens in the four “tissue” zones of a fungus?

 

5.  Give the steps that repeat in the Polymerase Chain Reaction.  There is not a set number, since some steps can be seen as single or double.  Include all temperature changes.

 

6.    Using this DNA code give the messenger RNA sequence and, using the chart here, give the coded amino acid sequence.

Starting ____________________________________________________________________________________ Strand   T A C  C  G  A  A  G  G  T  A  G  C  C  A  T  G  C  A  C  A  G  C  G  A C  T   mRNA   _____________________________________________________________________________________   Amino   Acids

 

7.   Give one type of data looked for in each stage of clinical trials –
PHASE 1	PHASE 2
PHASE 3	PHASE 4

 

BONUS QUESTIONS.  Answer as many or as few as you wish.  You can't lose points on the rest of the exam by getting these wrong.  Partial credit is possible.

 

What fairly bizarre hypothesis tries to explain insect metamorphosis?  Three Points.

 

 

How do auxins react to light?  Three Points.

 

 

Why did Mendel probably consider himself a failure as a scientist?  Three Points.

 

 

Prize money accelerated progress toward producing a “complete” human genome.  What new laboratory development made that acceleration possible?  Three Points.

 

 

What are the possible reasons why Franklin got little credit for helping to develop the double helix concept?  Two Points Each.

 

 

What aspect of gene location makes prokaryote chromosomes different from eukaryote chromosomes (other than they’re all on one)?  Three Points.

 

 

Fluorescence microscopy – what is it supposed to show?  Three Points.

 

 

 

What are common complaints of herbalists in regards to testing of herbal compounds?  Two Points Each.