Biotechnology and gene regulation

Question 1

what is meant by horizontal gene transfer?

Answer 1

genetic passing of information within the same generation

Question 2

what are plasmids?

Answer 2

a small loop of DNA in a bacteria separate from the chromosomes that allow horizontal gene transfer.

Question 3

how do restriction enzymes work? what are sticky ends?

Answer 3

enzymes that cut DNA in a very specific region. sticky ends are the ends of DNA after being cut

Question 4

who created the first recombinant DNA molecule.

Answer 4

Paul Berg

Question 5

what roles are played by restriction enzymes and ligase?

Answer 5

restriction enzymes make edits in a specific areas of DNA and ligase binds the sticky ends together. molecular scissors and glue.

Question 6

what was the first protein produced by genetic engineering?

Answer 6

Human Insulin

Question 7

what is PCR and who discovered it

Answer 7

PCr is polymerase chain reaction, a lab technique that amplifies or copies specific segments of DNA. invented by Kary Mullis.

Question 8

what is CRISPR?

Answer 8

a natural bacterial immune system that can be used to edit DNA, and can be programed to edit very specific regions of DNA.

Question 9

who discovered and first used crispr?

Answer 9

Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier

Question 10

what is cas9? what is guide RNA?

Answer 10

cas9 is a protein that cuts the DNA, gRNA is a short sequence that directs the cas9 to the correct spot to cut, acting as a targeting mechanism.

Question 11

what HDR?

Answer 11

homology-directed repair. Its a DNA repair mechanism that uses a template to fix double strand breaks in DNA.

Question 12

what are some biomedical examples of CRISPR application?

Answer 12

crispr is used in some cases sickle cell disease, and it could potentially be used to treat cancers, blindness, cystic fibrosis and more.

Question 13

what is the current US policy on editing human embryos

Answer 13

Germline gene editing is banned in the United States by acts of Congress although there is no federal legislation that dictates protocols or restrictions regarding human genetic engineering.

Question 14

what are genomics and proteomics?

Answer 14

genomics is the complete the study of complete set of DNA or genome. proteomics is the study of proteins.

Question 15

what is the human genome project?

Answer 15

the human genome project was an international scientific research project that mapped the sequence the human genome for the first time.

Question 16

who led the sequencing effort in the human genome project?

Answer 16

Francis Collins and Craig Venter.

Question 17

what significant insights came from the human genome project?

Answer 17

the HGP revealed that humans have around 22,000 genes, identifying genetic variations linked to diseases.

Question 18

How is gene expression regulated in prokaryotic cells?

Answer 18

it is regulated through the transcription process

Question 19

how do operons work?

Answer 19

each operon has regulatory DNA sequences, which act as binding sites for proteins to promote or inhibit transcription.

Question 20

how is gene expression regulated in prokaryotic cells?

Answer 20

gene expression is controlled by what portions of the RNA will be transcribed and expressed.

Question 21

what are operons?

Answer 21

groups of genes that are transcribed together to create a single RNA molecule.

Question 22

how is gene expression regulated in eukaryotic cells?

Answer 22

cell signaling
chromatin modification

Question 23

how does cell regulation relate to gene regulation?

Answer 23

different processes in the cell cannot be activated or deactivated without the signals to do so.

Question 24

what role is played by chromatin modification?

Answer 24

chromatin modification (acetylation of histone proteins) loosens the coils of a chromosome. this allows for transcription.
(methylation does the opposite).

Question 25

what are histones and nucleosomes?

Answer 25

histones are proteins within chromosomes that the DNA wraps around which forms units called nucleosomes.

Question 26

what is the importance of acetylation and methylation?

Answer 26

acetylation and methylation allows for the transcription of certain region of DNA.

Question 27

what does epigenetics mean?

Answer 27

epigenetics is the study of how chromatin structure and modification affect the expression of genes. The study of heritable phenotype changes that do not involve sequence alterations in the DNA

Question 28

what are transcription factors and control elements (enhancers) ?

Answer 28

substances that bind to enhancer sequences and facilitate RNA polymerase binding to the promoter sequence. they also recruit RNA polymerase to the promoter which enhances transcription.

Question 29

how do transcription factors contribute to differential gene expression?

Answer 29

different transcription factors bind to different enhancer regions turning the specific gene on. the same transcription factors will not turn on other genes.

Question 30

what is the significance of RNA splicing.

Answer 30

the splicing of RNA controls which sequences are produced and which proteins are created.

Question 31

how does RNA splicing work?

Answer 31

genes consist of both exon and intron sequences which are transcribed into primary mRNA transcript. when spliced, certain intron and exon sequences are removed and put together.

Question 32

what do the terms exon and intron mean?

Answer 32

an exon sequence is expressed. and intron sequence is not.

Question 33

how can a single gene encode multiple variations of a protein?

Answer 33

its exons can be spliced and reordered in different combinations which allows for variation.

Question 34

what are miRNAs? what is its importance?

Answer 34

microRNA are small RNA molecules that can block or inhibit translation by binding miRNA to mRNA causing degradation.

Question 35

how is protein activity regulated following translation?

Answer 35

phosphorylation.

Question 36

what is protein degradation?

Answer 36

many proteins only last for a short period of time before being broken down. these are degraded proteins, and must be continually replaced by the cell.

Question 37

what is a DNA microarray?

Answer 37

its a research tool for determining which genes are active in a cell at a certain time. it can be used to determining which genes are associated which different conditions

Question 38

what are stem cells?

Answer 38

undifferentiated cells with the potential to develop into a variety of different cell types

Question 39

how do pluripotent and totipotent stem cells differ?

Answer 39

Totipotent- embryotic cells able to develop into ANY type of cell Pluripotent-adult cells able to develop into a FEW type of cells.

Question 40

who was the first scientist to clone a vertebrate? how?

Answer 40

in 1902 Hans Spemann split a fertilized salamander egg and at the 2 cell stage split it into 2 and it grew into two salamander.

Question 41

who successfully cloned the first mammal?

Answer 41

Ian Wilmot cloned the first mammal Dolly the sheep in 1996.

Question 42

how was Dolly the sheep made?

Answer 42

Dolly was made using nuclear transfer.

Question 43

what is the difference between therapeutic and reproductive cloning?

Answer 43

Reproductive cloning - The use of cloning techniques to produce a complete cloned organisms Therapeutic cloning - The use of cloning techniques to produce stem cells for the purposes of treating disease