Deck 20: Genetic Technology

Question 1

Which of the following is a possible use for gene cloning?

A) Cloned genes can be introduced into bacteria or livestock to make pharmaceutical products such as insulin.
B) Cloned genes can be introduced into plants and animals to alter their traits.
C) Cloned genes can be used to treat diseases.
D) Large amounts of protein can be produced to study structure and function.
E) All of the choices are correct.

Answer 1

All of the choices are correct.

Question 2

Which of the following acts as a carrier of foreign DNA and is needed to clone a gene?

A) plasmid
B) viral vector
C) fungal vector
D) plasmid and viral vector
E) viral vector and fungal vector

Answer 2

plasmid and viral vector

Question 3

A researcher wants to clone a specific gene of interest. Why would he/she choose a viral vector for introducing the gene of interest into a host cell?

A) A viral vector contains its own metabolic machinery and does not affect the host cell.
B) A viral vector can infect living cells and take control of the host cell's metabolic machinery.
C) A viral vector is nonliving.
D) A viral vector contains circular DNA, thus it is easier to insert the gene of interest.
E) None of the choices are correct.

Answer 3

A viral vector can infect living cells and take control of the host cell's metabolic machinery.

Question 4

Which of the following statements is TRUE of restriction enzymes?

A) They are not naturally produced by bacteria, but are bioengineered by them.
B) They protect bacterial cells from invasion by foreign DNA.
C) There are less than 10 restriction enzymes known.
D) They cleave the DNA backbone at only one location.
E) They cleave DNA only at sites of adjacent thymine bases.

Question 5

Which of the following sequence pairs is a palindrome?

A) 5?-GTTCAT-3?; 3?-CAAGTA-5?
B) 5?-GAATCG-3?; 3?-CTTAGC-5?
C) 5?-TCCGGA-3?; 3?-AGGCCT-5?
D) 5?-TCACGT-3?; 3?-TCACGT-5?
E) None of the paired sequences are a palindrome.

Question 6

A plasmid vector and chromosomal DNA are treated separately with the same restriction enzyme. Which of the following might occur if the digested plasmid and chromosomal DNA were incubated together?

A) The two sticky ends of the plasmid could hybridize back together, recircularizing.
B) The two sticky ends of the plasmid could hybridize to both sticky ends of the chromosomal DNA fragments.
C) The two sticky ends of the plasmid could hybridize back together and recircularize as well as
D) The two sticky ends of the plasmid could hybridize with two ends of another type of plasmid.
E) The two sticky ends of the vector would remain free or unhybridized.

Question 7

What is the purpose of a selectable marker such as the antibiotic-resistance gene ampR?

A) Selectable markers allow a researcher to identify cells that have incorporated the recombinant plasmid.
B) Selectable markers produce antibiotics, which kill cells that have not incorporated recombinant plasmid.
C) Selectable markers prevent cells that have incorporated one plasmid from incorporating another.
D) Selectable markers allow a researcher to identify the recombinant plasmid.
E) Selectable markers are only effective in viral vectors.

Question 8

Which of the following is TRUE regarding the step in gene cloning when bacterial cells take up recombinant vector?

A) The process is known as transformation when a viral vector is used.
B) The process is known as transfection when a plasmid vector is used.
C) The cell is treated with agents that render it impermeable to the plasmid.
D) The cell is treated with agents that render it permeable to the plasmid.
E) Most cells will successfully take up one plasmid.

Question 9

Which of the following is true regarding transformed cells that are plated on growth media containing ampicillin?

A) Each colony began with one antibiotic resistant cell.
B) All cells in a single colony are resistant to the antibiotic ampicillin.
C) Only the founder cell of a single colony is resistant to the antibiotic ampicillin.
D) Cells that did not take up the plasmid will survive on the medium.
E) Each colony began with one antibiotic resistant cell and all cells in the colony are resistant to the antibiotic ampicillin.

Question 10

Which of the following is an advantage of cDNA libraries?

A) cDNA libraries are easy to make.
B) cDNA libraries utilize genomic DNA, which is easy to obtain.
C) cDNA lacks introns and therefore reflects all the genes expressed by a particular tissue or organism.
D) cDNA lacks exons.
E) cDNA libraries are more stable than other DNA libraries.

Question 11

A researcher uses a probe complementary to the gene of interest and performs a colony hybridization experiment on a plate containing many bacterial colonies. Each bacterial colony contains a recombinant vector with a different piece of chromosomal DNA. What can be learned from this experiment?

A) The researcher can determine the level of expression for each gene represented.
B) The researcher can identify colonies that contain the gene of interest.
C) The researcher can identify colonies that have not taken up a vector.
D) The researcher can determine the amount of mRNA in a specific colony.
E) The researcher can determine the amount of DNA in each of the colonies.

Question 12

Which of the following blotting techniques allows a researcher to determine the number of copies of a gene within the genome of an organism?

A) Western blotting
B) colony hybridization
C) Northern blotting
D) Southern blotting
E) Eastern blotting

Question 13

A small amount of DNA is collected from a crime scene. However, the amount of DNA collected is insufficient to perform the necessary experiments to link a suspect to the crime. What method could be utilized to increase the amount of DNA?

A) Southern blotting
B) gel electrophoresis
C) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
D) colony hybridization
E) DNA sequencing

Question 14

What type of science is a researcher performing if she were conducting experiments to try and map the location of a gene on a particular chromosome?

A) functional genomics
B) structural genomics
C) proteomics
D) functional genomics and proteomics
E) structural genomics and proteomics

Question 15

What is required for a group of clones to be considered a contig?

A) The clones need to have nonoverlapping regions of DNA.
B) The clones should contain identical regions of DNA.
C) The clones should contain different regions of DNA.
D) The clones should have overlapping regions of DNA.
E) The clones should have identical, nonoverlapping regions of DNA.

Question 16

Under what circumstances would a molecular geneticist need to use a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)?

A) when cloning small, prokaryotic genomes
B) when cloning small, eukaryotic genomes
C) when cloning large, eukaryotic genomes
D) when the DNA inserts to be used for cloning are very small
E) when sequencing small proteins

Question 17

Which of the following procedure-analyses is mismatched?

A) dideoxy termination-DNA sequencing
B) Southern blotting-DNA gene detection
C) microarray analyses-differential expression of mRNAs
D) gel electrophoresis-size separation of nucleic acids or proteins
E) mass spectrometry-DNA fragment analyses

Question 18

What method must be performed to produce enough DNA for sequencing?

A) PCR
B) Southern blotting
C) microarray analyses
D) Western blotting
E) Northern blotting

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT added to each of the 4 assay tubes when performing the dideoxy method for DNA sequencing?

A) many copies of target DNA
B) primers
C) DNA polymerase
D) one of the 4 deoxynucleotides (radiolabeled)
E) one of the 4 dideoxynucleotides

Question 20

Which of the following is a possible application of DNA microarrays?

A) cell-specific gene expression
B) gene regulation
C) elucidation of metabolic pathways
D) tumor profiling
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 21

The entire collection of a species' proteins is known as its

A) genome.
B) proteome.
C) metabolome.
D) microsome.
E) transcriptosome.

Question 22

When performing 2-D gel electrophoresis, what is the purpose of exposing the proteins to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)?

A) SDS masks all of the proteins' native charge with a positive charge.
B) SDS masks all of the proteins' native charge with a negative charge.
C) SDS makes all of the proteins' the same molecular weight.
D) SDS adds a hydroxyl group to amino acid residues on each of the proteins.
E) SDS masks all of the proteins' native charge with a neutral charge.

Question 23

During the tube gel electrophoresis phase of 2-D gel electrophoresis, proteins are separated based on their net charge at a given pH. Each protein will migrate to a point in the gel where its net charge is zero. This process is known as what?

A) isoelectric focusing
B) electrophoretic honing
C) migratory centering
D) hypoelectric centering
E) hyperelectric focusing

Question 24

What can be determined about proteins using mass spectrometry?

A) the native charge of the entire protein
B) the amino acid sequence of short regions within a protein
C) the molecular weight of the entire protein
D) the function of a protein
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 25

Which of the following pollutants could be reduced with the use of bioremediation?

A) heavy metals
B) petroleum hydrocarbons
C) halogenated organic compounds
D) pesticides
E) All of the choices are correct.

Question 26

What is it called when a cloned gene recombines with the normal gene on a chromosome to create a genetically modified organism (GMO)?

A) transformation
B) transfection
C) gene knockout
D) gene replacement
E) infection

Question 27

What can be inferred from an organism that has undergone a gene knockout?

A) The GMO is a heterozygote.
B) The GMO is a homozygote.
C) The cloned gene carries a mutation.
D) The GMO is a heterozygote and the cloned gene carries a mutation.
E) The GMO is a homozygote and the cloned gene carries a mutation.

Question 28

Which of the following is an advantage of molecular pharming?

A) Proteins are more likely to function properly when expressed in bacteria.
B) Certain proteins may be degraded rapidly when expressed in mammals.
C) The yield of recombinant proteins in mammalian milk is quite large.
D) Post-translational modifications do not occur in mammals.
E) Proteins are more stable when expressed in bacteria.

Question 29

Which would be TRUE of comparing the DNA fingerprints from hair samples of identical twins?

A) Some bands match.
B) No bands match.
C) Every band matches.
D) Exactly 50% of the bands match.
E) Most bands match.

Question 30

Which of the following is TRUE of short tandem repeat sequences (STRs)?

A) Their length is consistent among different individuals.
B) They can be used for DNA fingerprinting.
C) They are unreliable for use in DNA fingerprinting.
D) Their length is variable among different individuals.
E) Their length is variable among different individuals and they can be used for DNA fingerprinting.

Question 31

If a large protein is run on a gel slab and subjected to electrophoresis, one would expect to find its band towards the top of the gel.

Question 32

Restriction enzyme digestion of DNA is NOT required to perform a Southern blotting experiment.

Question 33

Tandem mass spectrometry can be used to determine the amino acid sequence of a peptide.

Question 34

Bioremediation utilizes newly developed synthetic chemicals to decrease pollution in the environment.

Question 35

A GMO is homozygous for a cloned gene. When it carries a mutation that inactivates the gene's function it is termed a gene knockout.

Question 36

Chromosomes within somatic cells of mammals incur irreversible genetic changes, rendering them unsuitable for cloning.