Exam 1: Introduction to Genetics

What is the term given to the theory that put forth the idea that living organisms could arise by incubating nonliving components?

Genetics is the study of ________.

In many species,there are two representatives of each chromosome.In such species,the characteristic number of chromosomes is called the ________ number.It is usually symbolized as ________.

Name the substance that serves as the hereditary material in eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

Until the mid-1940s,many scientists considered proteins to be the likely candidates for the genetic material.Why?

Given that DNA is the genetic material in prokaryotes and eukaryotes,what other general structures (macromolecules)and substances made by the cell are associated with the expression of that genetic material?

The human genome sequence was reported in 2003 by two groups,the publicly funded ________ and ________.

List the two relatively complex processes in which genetic information is converted into functional products.

Name two individuals who provided the conceptual basis for our present understanding that genes are on chromosomes.

A number of genomes have been sequenced in recent years: Escherichia coli,Saccharomyces cerevisiae,Caenorhabditis elegans,Drosophila melanogaster,and Mus musculus.What are the common names for these organisms?

What is a simple definition of an allele?

Name the bases in DNA and their pairing specificities.

In the 1600s,William Harvey studied reproduction and development.What is the term given to the theory which states that an organism develops from the fertilized egg by a succession of developmental events that lead to an adult?

Distinguish the functions of DNA and RNA in a eukaryote.

Arabidopsis is a model organism for the study of ________.

Reference is often made to adapter molecules when describing protein synthesis in that they allow amino acids to associate with nucleic acids.To what class of molecules does this term refer?

What term is used to describe the fact that different genes in an organism often provide differences in observable features?

What is meant by complementarity in terms of the structure of DNA?

Name one of the botanists who,in 1900,rediscovered the work of Gregor Mendel.

Complementarity in a genetic sense refers to the polymerization of nucleotides in DNA.