Exam 1
According to cell theory, is the flu virus considered to be alive?
No, a virus is not alive
Are recessive alleles generally loss of function or gain of function when mutated and why?
They are generally loss of function because when thinking about the airpods analogy, one of the airpods is functional while the other one is broken. The one you would hear is the functional one and the one you do not hear is the broken one or the recessive one.
Where do plants get their metabolic intermediates? Where do animals?
Plants make all their metabolic intermediates, while animals make some but still must eat to get some of them.
How does Cholera affect water homeostasis?
Cholera causes an individual to become dehydrated because the cholera toxin causes the chloride channels to constantly be open. So, chlorine ions flow out and Na+ ions follow into the intestine, causing the intestinal tract to be hypertonic to the cells in the intestine. This then causes water to flow out of the cells into the intestine to obtain homeostatic balance. And this causes diarrhea which results in dehydration.
What gives you the urge to breathe?
rise in pH level
If 36% of the nucleotides in a DNA molecule are thymine, what percentage of the nucleotides do you predict would be guanine?
14%
You mate a heterozygous long tailed male meerkat and a heterozygous long tailed female meerkat. (Short tail is recessive and long tail is dominant) What is the probability that the first and second meerkats will have short tails and third, fourth, and fifth meerkat will have long tails?
27/1024 or 0.02636...
How is the chemical energy in glucose transformed into the chemical energy of ATP?
This is done through the process of cellular respiration. The glucose is split into 2 pyruvates during glycolysis and 2 NADH and 2 ATP are also produced in the process. Then the pyruvates are each broken down into 1 Acetyl CoA, producing 2 overall during the transition reaction and 2 CO2 and 2 NADH are also produced. Then the 2 Acetyl CoA goes through the citric acid cycle and 4 CO2, 6 NADH, 2 FADH, and 2 ATP are produced. Then all the energy carriers (NADH and FADH) are used during the electron transport chain to make the proton gradient and oxygen acts as the final electron acceptor, producing water as a byproduct. And the H+ protons go through the ATP synthase during chemiosmosis and ATP is produced.
What would happen, on a cellular level, if your cat drank large amounts of salt water?
If my cat drank large amounts of salt water then their blood will become hypertonic to their cells and water will flow out of their cells into their blood.
Can peanut butter cause cancer? Give 2 reasons that support your answer.
It is highly unlikely for peanut butter to cause cancer because it is usually as a result of the growth of aspergillus fungus on the peanuts, but this happens when peanuts are improperly stored. However, in the U.S. there are regulations on how peanuts are stored.
How would the mRNA and protein product of a gene be different if two nucleotides were inserted?
This would likely result in a frameshift mutation
List 5 ways HeLa cells are different from normal cells.
Immortal, do not undergo apoptosis because of active telomerase, more chromosomes (~80), really strong, invasive (take over other cells), fast growing, etc.
Explain the process of photosynthesis.
In the light reactions sunlight energy splits water molecules into oxygen atoms, hydrogen ions, and electrons. The oxygen is released as a byproduct and the hydrogen and electrons are transferred to the energy carrier molecules ATP and NADPH. Then in the Calvin Cycle, carbon dioxide molecules are fixed into glucose and the energy in the energy carriers are stored in the glucose.
Explain what happened to Cynthia Lucero.
Cynthia Lucero was a runner who kept drinking a lot of Gatorade. This caused her blood to become hypotonic to her cells, so water moved from her blood into her cells which caused swelling. This was not too concerning for her muscle cells because her skin can expand but this was lethal for her brain cells because they are enclosed in the skull. So, as a result she died of hyponatremia.
What are some similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis?
Mitosis: occurs in somatic cells, 2 identical daughter cells, diploid, 1 cell division step
Meiosis: occurs in gametes, 4 unique daughter cells, haploid, 2 cell division steps
Similarities: both cell division
What is the intergenic region?
Parts of the chromosome that are between genes (do not code for proteins).
A young woman develops breast cancer; the original mutation responsible for the cancer arose in a single cell, and she has no family history of cancer. If she and her partner have children after the cancer diagnosis, how likely is it that she will pass on the mutation to her children?
Her children will not inherit the mutation because it arose in a somatic cell and mutations in somatic cells are not passed on to offspring. Only mutations in germline cells are passed on.
What color is each tube likely to turn if the following are in them? Give 2 reasons why for each tube.
Tube A: Yellow, because the snail is doing cellular respiration and releasing oxygen so the pH is becoming more acidic and there is no plant in the tube doing photosynthesis and taking in CO2 so there is only an increase in CO2 and no decrease, Tube B: Blue, because the plant is doing photosynthesis and is taking in CO2 and as it is releasing CO2 the process of cellular respiration it is using that same CO2 for photosynthesis so there is no increase or decrease in CO2, Tube C: Green, because both the plant and the snail are doing cellular respiration and are releasing CO2 and the plant is doing photosynthesis so it is taking in some of that CO2 so that is why it is not yellow, Tube D: Blue, because it is the control and it is supposed to stay the same
Why is the brain so sensitive to hypoxia? Give 2 reasons to support your answer.
The brain is so sensitive to hypoxia because the brain is the largest consumer of oxygen in the body and after about 4-6 minutes without oxygen, brain cells begin to die.
What is the difference between glucagon and glycogen?
Glucagon is a hormone that is released by the pancreas in response to low blood glucose levels. Glycogen is a polymer of glucose monomers that is stored in the liver.
Explain the steps of gene expression or central dogma.
A gene undergoes the process of transcription where the bases are transcribed to form a complementary RNA sequence. Then the RNA sequence undergoes the process of translation in which the ribosome reads each codon and translates them into an amino acid which produces a protein which then determines the trait.
Explain Mendel’s Peas experiment on flower color or stem length.
Flower Color: The A gene codes for a transcription factor that expresses a gene called chalcone synthase which is involved in pigment production. But there is a point mutation which results in 8 additional nucleotides that were supposed to be spliced and this leads to an early stop codon. So, gene is nonfunctional, and this results in the flower color being white.
Stem Length: There is a point mutation from G to A and the enzyme that activates gibberellin is not functional and therefore the plant stem length is short.
How can a carbon atom from Abraham Lincoln become part of your DNA?
Abraham Lincoln remains get eaten by decomposer who in the process of cellular respiration releases CO2 which is then taken in by a plant who in the process of photosynthesis which transfers sunlight energy into chemical energy which is then sorted into glucose which is then eaten by an animal which is eaten by me which the carbon in the glucose is fixed into my DNA by metabolic intermediates.
How does insulin regulate blood glucose levels on a molecular level?
Insulin directs GLUT4 channels to the cell membrane so glucose can enter cells and it also signals liver and muscle cells to make glycogen
What is the sensor and variable for the homeostatic mechanisms of water, glucose, and gas.
Water: Sensor- brain, Variable- Osmolarity
Glucose: Sensor- Pancreas, Variable- Glucose
Gas: Sensor- Brain stem, Aorta, Carotid Arteries, Variable- pH