Exam 17: Applications of Recombinant DNA Technology

Genetic testing is typically done with blood samples, yet red blood cells (erythrocytes) are anucleate (lack nuclei) and are thus devoid of DNA. How, then, are these tests done?

Considerable concern has been voiced over engineering crop plants with certain kinds of traits, notably the expression of pesticide genes and herbicide resistance, for fear that such traits may find their way into natural plant populations, including weeds. How might this be prevented?

To locate the CF gene, people in the pedigree were screened with ________ to detect any genetic markers associated with the disease.

Sickle-cell disease and one form of open-angle glaucoma are genetic diseases known to stem from a single amino acid change.

What are some ethical concerns over germ-line gene therapy?

Successful cotransformation in the yeast two-hybrid system will result in the binding of proteins produced by each yeast expression vector. These fusion proteins function by

How do genetic tests differ from diagnostic tests for genetic disease?

Genetic tests primarily tell investigators

The first gene to be cloned using only positional cloning was for which disease?

Approximately what percentage of the human genome consists of repetitive DNA?

Study of the fruitless (fru) gene in Drosophila has shown that gene regulation can be accomplished by differential mRNA transcript processing. Explain.

Two STR loci were determined to have the following allele frequencies in the general population: STR A STR B Alleles: 1A: 0.1 1B: 0.4 2A: 0.55 2B: 0.4 3A: 0.25 3B: 0.2 4A: 0.1 A suspect in a criminal trial was genetically tested for these loci and was found to have the genotype (1A, 1A) for STR A and (2B, 2B) for STR B-homozygous for both loci. What is the probability that a randomly sampled person from this population would also have this genotype?

If β-globin DNA from a normal individual is cut with the restriction enzyme DdeI, transferred to a membrane, and probed with a labeled β-globin probe, ________ restriction fragments would be detected.

Ti plasmids are approximately ________ the related pUC19 plasmids.

The Guthrie test is used to screen all newborns in the United States for cystic fibrosis.

Polymorphic tandem repeats are called

Briefly list the basic steps involved in constructing a DNA fingerprint for a paternity case.

The gene responsible for cystic fibrosis was identified by positional cloning, the first such genetic disease identified in this way.

In a DNA fingerprinting-based paternity analysis, the tested child should share about ________ of the fingerprint bands with his or her father.

DNA-level screening for genetic disease typically involves RFLP- or PCR-based approaches.