Deck 15: Biotechnology

Question 1

Enzymes that cleave DNA at specific sites are called _____________. Cutting by some of these enzymes results in single-stranded, complementary tails called _________ .

A) vectors; blunt
B) peptidases; lagging
C) endonucleases; sticky
D) DNases; leading

Answer 1

endonucleases; sticky

Question 2

What best describes the way a single-stranded complementary tail is formed by a restriction enzyme?

A) Staggered cuts in DNA leaves sticky ends.
B) Uneven cuts lead to orphaned ends of DNA.
C) Same positional cutting sites lead to vector ends.
D) Same base cuts lead to 5' end production.

Answer 2

Staggered cuts in DNA leaves sticky ends.

Question 3

A researcher wants to use a molecular technique to find the DNA sequence ATGGGCCAGCT in the genome of mice. He should use the __________ technique, with __________ as a probe.

A) Western blotting; TACCCGGTCGA
B) Southern blotting; ATGGGCCAGCT
C) Southern blotting; TACCCGGTCGA
D) gel electrophoresis; DNA dye
E) gel electrophoresis; ATGGGCCAGCT

Answer 3

Southern blotting; TACCCGGTCGA

Question 4

A gel electrophoresis is performed, but when the gel imager is used, a single large band appears at the site where the samples were initially injected into the gel. What is the most probable cause and why?

A) No electrical current was added and therefor the negative charged DNA did not move towards the positive node.
B) The gel was facing the wrong node and positive charged DNA was attracted to the negative node stopping it from moving.
C) The current was too high increasing the negative charge of DNA keeping it from moving into the gel.
D) Too much DNA dye was added making the DNA fragment too heavy to move through the gel.

Question 5

An example of a commercially significant human protein produced in bacteria is _________. The gene for the protein is inserted into bacteria using specifically designed _________.

A) hemoglobin; vectors
B) globulins; hosts
C) AZT; plasma
D) insulin; plasmids

Question 6

A subunit vaccine is being developed for a newly discovered virus. Mammalian cells would be used to create a subunit vaccine composed of

A) mRNA from the newly discovered virus with recombinant vaccinia virus.
B) recombinant vaccinia virus with the outside coat of the newly discovered virus.
C) the entire DNA from the newly discovered virus with recombinant vaccinia virus.
D) the newly discovered virus with the outside coat of the vaccinia virus.

Question 7

It is believed that a nucleotide change from T to C in the gene encoding a green pigment protein is responsible for certain cases of color blindness. In order to test that a mutation in this gene is responsible for color blindness you would want to

A) run gel electrophoresis to ensure it is the right gene.
B) carry out knockout analysis to observe what happens when the gene is not expressed.
C) perform plasmid transformation of the DNA into a vector and observe changes in bacteria.
D) perform a Southern blot to account for the C to T change in the sequence.

Question 8

You digest DNA from the frog Xenopus laevis with an enzyme that produces sticky DNA ends. You can ligate your DNA to

A) blunt DNA ends from Xenopus laevis.
B) sticky DNA ends from Xenopus laevis.
C) blunt DNA ends from bacteria.
D) sticky DNA ends from bacteria.

Question 9

The most accurate description of the construction of a cDNA library would be

A) collect all mRNA from tissue of interest, use reverse transcriptase to make cDNA, insert cDNA into plasmid vector.
B) extract all RNA from a sample, use Taq polymerase to make cDNA, sequence the cDNA.
C) isolate all rRNA, use DNA ligase to connect all the RNA together to make cDNA, transform the cDNA into bacteria.
D) filter all DNA from an organism and use Taq polymerase to make cDNA as a copy for the library, put cDNA into a viral vector.

Question 10

During the generation of a transgenic mouse, you need to confirm that your gene of interest was inserted successfully. You have a DNA probe from a previous study; using that, what technique would you perform to ensure that you had a transgenic mouse?

A) Southern blotting
B) PCR
C) Western blotting
D) Northern blotting

Question 11

In order to make a successful subunit vaccine you need

A) protein purified from the pathogen of interest.
B) the complete DNA sequence of the pathogen.
C) DNA sequence for a protein expressed on the surface of the pathogen.
D) active pathogen.

Question 12

Some of the useful applications of genetic engineering include

A) bacteria that can digest oil in an oil spill.
B) growing glyphosate-resistant cotton.
C) development of hybrid corn to increase yield.
D) creating Golden Rice.

Question 13

As a farmer you spray your weed-infested crops with a herbicide containing glyphosate. Glyphosate stops plants from producing aromatic amino acids needed for development. The main reason you are not worried this will affect the growth of your crops is that

A) glyphosate resistant crops are produced to create higher amounts of enzymes that make aromatic amino acids.
B) different plants respond differently to glyphosate, crops have a enzyme that breaks down glyphosate to a harmless substrate.
C) crops are genetically engineered to extract higher amounts of aromatic amino acid from the soil bacteria.
D) crops have been sprayed with a soil bacteria that protects the plants from the mechanism of glyphosate.

Question 14

You have been given DNA from a crime scene that needs to be sequenced in order to identify the perpetrator. Which techniques below do you need to carry out to accurately sequence the DNA?

A) Different sized fragments of DNA are made ending in the same base.
B) Gel electrophoresis separates different sized fragments for each base.
C) Blottings of the DNA fragments are stained with a dye.
D) Fluorescent tagging for each base reveals a ladder of the sequence.

Question 15

A lab you work in has asked you to engineer a new stacked GM crop. What main areas could you address to do this?

A) Insertion of an gene that will produce a toxin in plants that will kill insects but not animals.
B) High yielding crops that produce many more plants than other standard crops.
C) Herbicide resistance that allow for the crop to grow when treated with herbicides.
D) Combing glyphosate resistance and insect killing genes into crops.

Question 16

When giving a lecture on GM crops, what concerns may come up in conversation and what research supports or does not support these concerns?

A) Environmental issues such as the growth of monarch butterflies on GM corn, however research shows us that milkweed is the preferred site of egg laying.
B) Gene flow from GM crops into wild plants. Certain plants such as soy are grown in places where there are no related plants and therefore genetic information can not cross over.
C) Can GM foods be harmful when ingested. Proteins engineered into crops in the USA to produce glyphosate tolerance have not been shown to activate allergic responses.
D) The destruction of all insects with inserted genes for toxins. Research shows us that even with the death of many insects some will always survive.

Question 17

A protein-protein interaction is responsible for an illness in infants. The most accurate mechanisms used to assess the proteins involved include

A) Isolation of the DNA sequence for the genes encoding the proteins.
B) Insertion of the genes encoding the proteins into yeast using bait and prey vectors.
C) Addition of fusion proteins from the infants to yeast to induce a color change response.
D) The identification of active protein interactions by the expression of reporter genes.

Question 18

The presence of human genes in crop plants and farm animals is an ongoing advancement in scientific engineering. The main techniques used to achieve this include

A) The isolation and insertion of genes for antibodies into plants by bacterial hosts.
B) Vector transfer of foreign DNA from one organism to another.
C) Injection of DNA directly into animals which is then spliced into their genome by DNA endonuclease.
D) Transcriptase and proteins are added to organisms inserting the cDNA into different organisms.

Question 19

When using vectors to produce proteins for gene therapy, what are some of the problems that may occur and how has medical science overcome these problems?

A) Virus vectors used may actually cause disease and therefore medical technicians have removed those segments.
B) RNA added via vectors to a human may cause a toxic response and so a buffer is added to the vector.
C) Proteins injected using vectors get degraded too quickly and therefore protective segments have been added to the proteins.
D) cDNA produced by vectors active an immune response, tags are therefore added to help the body identify them as self.