Exam 4: Nucleic Acids and the Origin of Life

In 1972, Stanley Miller filled test tubes with ammonia gas, water vapor, and cyanide (HCN), and he kept these tubes at 78°C for 27 years.What was found in these test tubes after 27 years?

Protocells are

Refer to the figure below showing a protocell. Identify the process depicted inside the protocell, and explain why its rate would be enhanced inside the protocell compared with its rate outside the protocell.

The Miller-Urey experiments showed that biological molecules could be made from inorganic precursors.These results

Hexokinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation of glucose to produce glucose-1-phosphate.The reaction uses ATP as the source of phosphate, and ADP is the other product of the reaction.Each glucose-1-phosphate produced undergoes a series of reactions that lead to the formation of two pyruvate molecules, which contain three carbon atoms each.This is an example of a nucleotide functioning in

Which characteristic of living cells is also a characteristic of protocells?

What is the evidence supporting the claim that ancient rocks contain the fossils of cells?

Which statement concerning replication, transcription, and translation is correct?

Whether the process is abiotic or occurs in an organism, the synthesis of macromolecules

What properties of DNA structure make it well suited for its function as an informational molecule?

Nucleic acids and proteins are both polymers made of a set of monomers.Complete the following analogy: _______ are to nucleotides as side chains are to amino acids.

In 1668, Francesco Redi conducted experiments to investigate the concept of spontaneous generation.He began by putting pieces of meat into identical jars.Some jars were left open to the air, some were sealed, and some were covered with gauze that kept out flies while allowing the meat to be exposed to the air.Redi then observed whether or not fly maggots appeared in the meat.What hypothesis was Redi testing?

Because it is easy to spot meteorites against white snow and ice, Antarctica is a place where teams of scientists routinely go to search for them.When a meteorite found in Antarctica is analyzed and found to contain amino acids, scientists should exercise caution before claiming that the molecules are evidence that life came to Earth from other planets.Which statement best applies in this situation?

After the discovery that volcanoes released carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) into the atmosphere 4 billion years ago, scientists conducted the Miller‒Urey experiment with the inclusion of these gases.How did the results differ from the original results?

Refer to the table below, showing a portion of the DNA sequence of the same gene present in five different species. Of the pairs listed, which two species are likely to be the most distantly related through evolution?

Refer to the figure below showing two strands of DNA. Which statement about uracil can you infer to be true?

What is the sequence of the complementary strand of DNA given the template DNA sequence below? (Note: Spaces between nucleotides have no purpose but to make the sequences easier to read.)

In 1969, Australian scientists analyzed the structure of an uncontaminated portion of a meteorite.They found a number of the molecules that are necessary for life, including purines, pyrimidines, sugars, and ten amino acids.This result supports which statement?

Meteorites from space

Unlike RNA, DNA contains