Ghostly Genetics
This term describes the process by which RNA is synthesized from a DNA template, allowing for the "spell" of protein production to be cast within the cell.
What is transcription?
This class of animals contains open circulatory systems, and an exoskeleton of chitin.
What are arthopods (Arthropoda)?
Amorphophallus titanium, also known as the corpse flower, belongs to this clade including all other flowering plants.
What are angiosperms?
This nitrogenous base was first isolated from the droppings of bats, hence its name.
What is guano?
This hormone, produced by the pancreas, plays a crucial role in glucose metabolism by stimulating the liver to release glucose into the blood.
What is glucagon?
This genetic phenomenon, involving the exchange of chromosome segments during meiosis, can create spooky new combinations of traits, much like a mad scientist's experiment.
What is crossing over (recombination)?
This is the geological time period in which a majority of dinosaurs went extinct.
What is the Cretaceous period?
Pumpkins contain large quantities of this pigment, giving them there characteristic orange color.
What are carotenoids?
When the base composition of DNA from a vampire was determined, 32% of the bases were found to be guanine. This is the percentage that would be adenine.
What is 18%?
This portion of the brain would help a zombie regulate its hunger (for flesh) by releasing the hormones ghrelin and leptin.
What is the hypothalamus?
This type of genetic variation, often exemplified by blood types, involves alleles that can coexist and both be expressed in an individual, creating a "ghoulish" mix.
What is codominance?
By convincing soldiers that they are part of a "brotherhood," and thus increasing the likelihood that they will protect, and even die for each other, the military is—consciously or unconsciously—tapping into genes that were adaptive in our ancestors due to this process.
What is kin-selection?
Carnivorous plants, such as the Venus fly trap or sundew, consume insects because their soil is lacking in this nutrient.
What is nitrogen?
This process of cell death, allows a multicellular organism to dispose of malformed, mutated, or abnormal cells.
What is apoptosis?
Rigormortis sets in when muscle cells are depleted of ATP. The presence of ATP is necessary for the separation of the cross-bridge between these two proteins.
What are actin and myosin?
This method, used to amplify specific DNA sequences for analysis, employs cycles of heating and cooling, evoking images of a cauldron bubbling with mystical ingredients.
What is PCR (polymerase chain reaction)?
Chef Grace is trying to experience the taste of dolphin without actually eating dolphin. She presumes that taste is evolutionary and changes much the same way genes do. Which of the following organisms should she eat based on this hypothesis? The choices are A. Elephant B. Bighorn Sheep C. Manatee D. Lemur E. Koala
What is an elephant?
Monotropa uniflora, also known as the ghost plant or ghost pipe lacks chlorophyll and other pigmentation, causing the entire plant to remain white. The plant uses this mechanism to obtain nutrition.
What is parasitism?
Which membrane in eggs is responsible for respiration in developing birds, reptiles, and (most likely) dinosaurs?
What is the allantois and the chorion?
Fixation is a lab procedure used to prevent biological tissues from decay. In instances where perfect morphology of the whole animal is desired, cardiac fixation is the preferred method. This is where the researcher should inject the fixative to ensure the best result.
What is the left ventricle?
This term refers to the phenomenon where one gene masks or alters the expression of another, much like a vampire's shadow obscuring the light.
What is epistasis?
You are pleasantly enjoying your afternoon in Bali, Indonesia, when you stumble upon a street stand that has a conspicuous “DO NOT TOUCH” sign. Below the sign, there are two bats. This scary tourist trap owes its existence to which mammalian order.
What is Chiroptera?
Strangler figs begin as a seed in the canopy of a host tree, eventually sending roots down to the ground while "strangling" and killing their host. The roots grow from this tissue of undifferentiated cells that actively divides.
What is the apical meristem?
This membrane molecule, when found on the extracellular side of the cell, is a marker for phagocytosis or "cannibalism" of the cell.
What is a phosphatidylserine?
This particular white blood cell is responsible for fighting off parasitic worms.
What is an eosinophil?