Chapter 10 Exercises

Review Questions for Chapter 10

Multiple Choice

 

1) Which of the following is required for repairing the phosphodiester backbone of DNA during molecular cloning?

1. cDNA
2. reverse transcriptase
3. restriction enzymes
4. DNA ligase

 

2) All of the following are processes used to introduce DNA molecules into bacterial cells except:

1. transformation
2. transduction
3. transcription
4. conjugation

 

3) The enzyme that uses RNA as a template to produce a DNA copy is called:

1. a restriction enzyme
2. DNA ligase
3. reverse transcriptase
4. DNA polymerase

 

4) In blue-white screening, what do blue colonies represent?

1. cells that have not taken up the plasmid vector
2. cells with recombinant plasmids containing a new insert
3. cells containing empty plasmid vectors
4. cells with a non-functional lacZ gene

 

5) The T_i plasmid is used for introducing genes into:

1. animal cells
2. plant cells
3. bacteriophages
4. E. coli cells

 

6) Which technique is used to separate protein fragments based on size?

1. polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
2. Southern blot
3. agarose gel electrophoresis
4. polymerase chain reaction

 

7) Which technique uses restriction enzyme digestion followed by agarose gel electrophoresis to generate a banding pattern for comparison to another sample processed in the same way?

1. qPCR
2. RT-PCR
3. RFLP
4. 454 sequencing

 

8) All of the following techniques involve hybridization between single-stranded nucleic acid molecules except:

1. Southern blot analysis
2. RFLP analysis
3. northern blot analysis
4. microarray analysis

 

9) The science of studying the entire collection of mRNA molecules produced by cells, allowing scientists to monitor differences in gene expression patterns between cells, is called:

1. genomics
2. transcriptomics
3. proteomics
4. pharmacogenomics

 

10) The science of studying genomic fragments from microbial communities, allowing researchers to study genes from a collection of multiple species, is called:

1. pharmacogenomics
2. transcriptomics
3. metagenomics
4. proteomics

 

11) The insulin produced by recombinant DNA technology is

1. a combination of E. coli and human insulin.
2. identical to human insulin produced in the pancreas.
3. cheaper but less effective than pig insulin for treating diabetes.
4. engineered to be more effective than human insulin.

 

12) At what point can the FDA halt the development or use of gene therapy?

1. on submission of an IND application
2. during clinical trials
3. after manufacturing and marketing of the approved therapy
4. all of the answers are correct

 

Fill-in-the-Blanks

 

13) The process of introducing DNA molecules into eukaryotic cells is called ________.

 

14) The __________ blot technique is used to find an RNA fragment within a sample that is complementary to a DNA probe.

 

15) The PCR step during which the double-stranded template molecule becomes single-stranded is called _____________.

 

16) The sequencing method involving the incorporation of ddNTPs is called __________.

 

17) The application of genomics to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of drugs on the basis of information from an individual’s genomic sequence is called ____________.

 

18) A gene whose expression can be easily visualized and monitored is called a ________.

 

19) _____________ is a common viral vector used in gene therapy for introducing a new gene into a specifically targeted cell type.

 

Short Answers

 

20) Name three elements incorporated into a plasmid vector for efficient cloning.

 

21) When would a scientist want to generate a cDNA library instead of a genomic library?

 

22) What is one advantage of generating a genomic library using phages instead of plasmids?

 

23) Why is it important that a DNA probe be labeled with a molecular beacon?

 

24) When separating proteins strictly by size, why is exposure to SDS first required?

 

25) Why must the DNA polymerase used during PCR be heat-stable?

 

26) If all cellular proteins are encoded by the cell’s genes, what information does proteomics provide that genomics cannot?

 

27) Briefly describe the risks associated with somatic cell gene therapy.

 

Critical Thinking

 

28) Is biotechnology always associated with genetic engineering? Explain your answer.

 

29) Which is more efficient: blunt-end cloning or sticky-end cloning? Why?

 

30) Suppose you are working in a molecular biology laboratory and are having difficulty performing the PCR successfully. You decide to double-check the PCR protocol programmed into the thermal cycler and discover that the annealing temperature was programmed to be 65 °C instead of 50 °C, as you had intended. What effects would this mistake have on the PCR reaction? 

 

31) What is the advantage of microarray analysis over northern blot analysis in monitoring changes in gene expression?

 

32) What is the difference between reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR)?

 

33) What are some advantages of cloning human genes into bacteria to treat human diseases caused by specific protein deficiencies?

 

34) Compare the ethical issues involved in the use of somatic cell gene therapy and germ-line gene therapy.