Exam 1: Introduction to the Study of Cell and Molecular Biology

What makes the 16S rRNA molecule useful for studies of molecular evolution?

Cyanobacteria are obviously capable of photosynthesis,but many of them also convert nitrogen gas into reduced forms of nitrogen (such as ammonia)that can be used by cells in the synthesis of nitrogen-containing organic compounds,including amino acids and nucleotides.This process is called ______.

Which of the following is not a model organism?

If one accepts the suggestion that the Archaea are similar to the prokaryotes from which all eukaryotes are descended,how does one explain the extreme environments in which they live when their descendants thrive in more moderate environments?

From what is the lipid-containing outer envelope surrounding the viral capsid of many animal viruses derived?

What is transdifferentiation?

What is the primary risk of using human ES cells in cell replacement therapy to treat diseases like type I diabetes and macular degeneration? Why is this a risk?

The collection of bacteria that live on and within the human body are being isolated,identified and characterized; they are referred to as the human ______.It has been demonstrated that these organisms differ based upon the age,diet,geography and state of health of the human from which they were obtained.

Which of the following characteristics is(are)not a basic property of cells?

In bone marrow transplantation,what is the usual source of the donor cells? For what diseases is bone marrow transplantation most often used?

How might ES cells be "customized" so that they possess the same genetic makeup as the individual who is being treated,thus protecting them from attack by the recipient's immune system? What is the major ethical question associated with this procedure? What practical impediments presently stand in the way of this procedure and how might they be removed?

The field of biological research in which biologists are attempting to create a living cell in the laboratory,essentially from scratch is known as __________.More modestly,this branch of biology also has a goal of developing novel life forms,beginning with existing organisms,that have a unique value in medicine,industry or in cleaning up the environment.

The rapidity and cost-efficiency of DNA sequencing has made it possible to sequence virtually all of the genes present in the microbes of a given habitat.This generates a collective genome for that habitat,which has come to be called a(n)_________.

Studies on mice suggest that bacterial species predominating in obese individuals differ from those in the digestive tracts of lean individuals and that they play a role in weight gain in obese individuals.What are these bacteria in obese individuals proposed to do that increases weight gain in obese individuals?

What feature of iPS cells removes all the ethical reservations that accompany work with ES cells and makes it much easier to generate iPS cells in the lab? What difficulties must be overcome before iPS cells can be used as a source of cells for human therapy? How might the problem of immune rejection of iPS cell replacements eventually be avoided?

A virus infects a cell that has been placed in culture.The cell grows into a clone of cells with no apparent infection.Three months later,the cells are exposed to ultraviolet light.Shortly thereafter,most of the cells lyse and shed large amounts of virus.What kind of infection is this? What kind of infection results in a loss of growth control at some time after infection?

What is the normal purpose of hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow?

Who was the first person to describe living single cells?

The process by which a relatively unspecialized cell becomes highly specialized is called _______.

You are observing a cell.Its cell wall is made of a long-chain polysaccharide called peptidoglycan.It has the ability to make all but the simplest molecules and can make all of the 20 amino acids.What kind of cell is it? If the cell contained pigments capable of photosynthesis,what would it be called?