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DNA and Genetics Overview
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DNA and Genetics Overview
DNA and Genetics Overview
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1
Question
Who is considered the father of genetics?
Answer
Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics.
2
Question
What did Friedrich Miescher discover?
Answer
Miescher discovered nuclein, later known as DNA, by isolating it from white blood cells.
3
Question
Why wouldn't Mendel and Miescher have been interested in each other's work?
Answer
Mendel focused on inheritance patterns, while Miescher was studying cellular chemistry.
4
Question
What did Wilkins contribute to the study of DNA?
Answer
Wilkins provided X-ray diffraction images that helped determine the structure of DNA.
5
Question
What did Franklin provide regarding DNA?
Answer
Franklin provided a picture of the DNA molecule.
6
Question
What was Chargaff's contribution to understanding DNA?
Answer
Chargaff contributed the concept of complementarity of bases.
7
Question
What structure did Watson and Crick determine for DNA?
Answer
Watson and Crick determined the structure of DNA.
8
Question
What was Linus Pauling's proposal regarding DNA structure?
Answer
Pauling initially proposed a triple helix structure, but it was incorrect.
9
Question
What is the basic structure of the DNA double helix?
Answer
The DNA double helix consists of a sugar backbone made of deoxyribose, which contains 5 carbon atoms.
10
Question
Which carbon in ribose is attached to the base?
Answer
The first carbon is attached to the base.
11
Question
Which carbon in ribose is attached to the OH group?
Answer
The third carbon is attached to the OH group.
12
Question
What are purines and which bases are classified as purines?
Answer
Purines have 2 rings and include adenine (A) and guanine (G).
13
Question
What are pyrimidines and which bases are pyrimidines?
Answer
Pyrimidines have one ring and include thymine (T) and cytosine (C).
14
Question
What are the base pairs in DNA and how are they bonded?
Answer
Adenine pairs with thymine (A-T) and guanine pairs with cytosine (G-C). A-T pairs are bonded via 2 hydrogen bonds, while G-C pairs are bonded via 3 hydrogen bonds.
15
Question
What is the difference between a nucleoside and a nucleotide?
Answer
A nucleoside consists of a base and sugar, while a nucleotide consists of a nucleoside plus a phosphate group.
16
Question
How does RNA differ from DNA?
Answer
RNA has uracil instead of thymine, has an hydroxyl group on C2, is single-stranded, shorter, more flexible, and can have catalytic functions (ribozymes).
17
Question
What is the size of the human genome in terms of base pairs?
Answer
The human genome is approximately 6.6 billion base pairs.
18
Question
How large are bacterial genomes?
Answer
Bacterial genomes are typically around a few million base pairs.
19
Question
What is the textbook definition of a gene?
Answer
A gene is the entire nucleic acid sequence that is necessary for the synthesis of a functional gene product.
20
Question
How many genes encode for proteins in humans?
Answer
There are approximately 22,333 genes that encode for proteins in humans.
21
Question
What types of non-coding genes exist?
Answer
Non-coding genes include rRNA, tRNA, snRNA, and snoRNA.
22
Question
What is the average size of a typical gene in base pairs?
Answer
On average, a typical gene is about 27,000 base pairs long in humans.
23
Question
What is the average size of introns and exons?
Answer
Intron size averages around 3.3 kb, while exon size is typically between 50-200 bp.
24
Question
Where is the largest intron located?
Answer
The largest intron is found in the gene that codes for Titin.
25
Question
What is the difference between a simple and complex transcription unit?
Answer
Simple transcription units yield one type of mRNA and one protein product, while complex transcription units can generate multiple mRNA variants from the same gene, producing different protein products through mechanisms like alternative splicing.
26
Question
How far off was the estimate for the number of protein coding genes?
Answer
The estimate was approximately 6.7 million due to a lack of knowledge about exons.
27
Question
Despite the low number of protein coding genes, how is our proteome more complex than that of a flower or a worm?
Answer
Our proteome's complexity arises from alternative splicing, protein modifications, and temporal and spatial regulation.
28
Question
What is a paralog?
Answer
A paralog is a variant of the same gene within the same species or in different species.
29
Question
What is an ortholog?
Answer
An ortholog is the same gene found in different species.
30
Question
What is an example of a gene that has paralogs?
Answer
An example of a gene with paralogs is the globin gene.