4-7 Investigating diversity

Question 1

What are the ways that genetic diversity can be determined?

Answer 1

• Frequency of measurable or observable characteristics.
• The base sequence of DNA.
• The base sequence of mRNA.
• The amino acid sequence of the proteins encoded by DNA and mRNA.

Question 2

What are limitations of using observable characteristics?

Answer 2

• The characteristics could be coded for by more than one gene.
• The same characteristics could have arisen separately.
• The characteristics could be influenced by the environment and not the genes.

Question 3

How can sampling bias be eliminated?

Answer 3

• To eliminate sampling bias a quadrat or transect can be used by placing these on randomly generated coordinates in the sample area, to increase the reliability of the results a larger sample size is needed.