Cell Biology
What equation is essential to understanding Cell Biology?
Form = Function
What is the Central Dogma?
DNA -> RNA -> Protein
What are genes?
Segment of DNA composed of nucleotides
What is cancer?
An uncontrolled division of cells
Which organelle contains all of the information of the cell?
The nucleus
What are the two steps necessary to get from genes to protein?
Transcription, translation
What are alleles?
Matching genes – they are a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at a given genomic location
What is the term for when cancer spreads to a different or secondary site?
Metastasis
Which organelle is referred to as ‘the powerhouse of the cell’?
The mitochondria
How many steps are required for transcription, and what are they?
1) 3; 2) Initiation, Elongation, Termination
What are homologous chromosomes?
Two chromosomes in a pair – normally one inherited from the mother and one from the father.
Where did HeLa cells come from?
Henrietta Lacks
*The cell line was derived from cervical cancer cells – developed in the 1950s by George Otto Gey, a cell biologist at John Hopkins Hospital.
Who was the first Latina woman to become a faculty member and scientist in the University of California system?
Elma Gonzales
What is the bond that links nucleic acid monomers (nucleotides) together?
Phosphodiester bond
What is the difference between genotype and phenotype?
Genotypes are the genetic makeup of an individual (e.g., RR); phenotypes are the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment (e.g., blue eyes).
What is a tumor suppressor gene?
A gene that slows down cancer development
*Ones frequently mutated in common cancers (lung, prostate cancer and melanoma) include the TP53, INK4 and PTEN tumor suppressor genes.
What is the endosymbiotic theory?
Theory that states that the mitochondria was a prokaryote that an ancient cell gobbled up and formed a symbiotic relationship with
Name a specific type of RNA, and describe its function.
1) Messenger RNA (mRNA); 2) Encodes amino acid sequence of a polypeptide (gene transcribed by RNA Pol II)
>> Other possibilities…
Transfer RNA (tRNA): brings amino acids to ribosomes during translation (gene transcribed by RNA Pol III);
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA): makes up the ribosome in conjunction with other ribosomal proteins (gene transcribed by RNA Pol I, III);
Small nuclear RNA (snRNA): forms complexes with proteins that are used in RNA processing by eukaryotes (gene transcribed by RNA Pol III)
What is the law of independent assortment?
Genes for different traits are sorted separately from one another so that the inheritance of one trait is not dependent on the inheritance of another.
What three types of cancer were discussed? Provide examples.
1) Liquid – blood cancers (e.g., leukemia); 2) Solid – sarcomas, carcinomas (e.g., Ewing sarcoma, osteosarcomas are types of sarcomas that can form in the bone; adrenocortical carcinoma is a type of carcinoma that develops in adrenal glands which sit above the kidneys); 3) Metastatic – breast cancer that has spread to the lung